If You Lived Here
by TinyDancer14
Summary: He was a moody transfer from Long Beach, California. She was a sarcastic straight-A student with a crazy family and knew he didn't belong. So imagine her shock when she went to greet the new neighbors and found him at the door.
1. Hello, Neighbor!

**Hi guys! Again, like I said in the first chapter of "Home Sweet Home," I'm not sure what you guys will think of this. I just think that every story idea has pretty much been done, so all that's left to do are the OOC's and the AU plots. This one is a little bit on the different side, but I really hope you'll give it a chance or at least give me some feedback. I'm not going to continue it if people don't like it. I've got some other story ideas up my sleeve (but actually, it's summer here so I'm technically not wearing sleeves) and if this story isn't well liked it will be deleted and the others posted. I like this, but that doesn't say anything about you. Please read, review, and help me out!!**

**Oh, and yes, this will be Troyella. Eventually. Let me work up to that.**

**I own nothing. Yeah. Okay?**

* * *

Chapter One: Hello, Neighbor!

Troy Bolton didn't cry.

But he was willing to use tears if they were guaranteed to work.

"Mom, you can't tell me we're seriously moving to _freaking New Mexico!_"

Kathryn Bolton sighed. "Troy, we've been over this a thousand times. Your father was offered a new job at the high school and it's a whole lot better than the one he's got here. It was a done deal before he even signed the paperwork."

And so tears were not going to work. They really were moving to freaking New Mexico.

Troy Bolton has lived his entire life in Long Beach, California. Granted, his entire life consisted of seventeen years, but the wonderful world of Southern California was his calling. He was planning on heading off to the USC, as a matter of fact, in a year just so he didn't have to leave his home. He loved it here; living on the beach made finding something to do a cinch. Between surfing and fishing, he had many friends and a girlfriend he lov-, well, liked. Troy didn't believe in the whole "teenage love" scene. But how could his parents make him leave?

And yet, here he was on the pier not too far from his house, saying goodbye to each and every one of his friends.

"I can't believe you're really going, man," Chase, his best friend remarked, pulling him into a hug. "This is so messed up."

"Tell me about it," Troy complained. "There's no surfing out there. And where am I going to get a fresh strawberry-kiwi-banana smoothie?"

"We'll miss you," His other friend Jake offered. "The surf team will _never_ be the same."

"I won't either!" His girlfriend Lindsey wailed, latching onto his neck. "Oh Troy! I'm going to miss you so much! I don't think I'll be able to function without you!"

He hugged her back, enjoying the last few minutes with her. "I'll miss you too, Linds."

"Will you call me, like, every single day?"

Troy nodded his promise.

"Oh, I probably won't even be able to understand you!" She wailed again.

"What are you talking about?" Troy asked, shooting her an odd look.

"Well you are moving to New _Mexico_, aren't you?"

Troy stared at her a moment before turning away at the sound of the car horn's beep. "I really gotta go, you guys."

"Later man."

"We'll miss you."

"Cali's losing a good one."

"Hey, come back to So Cal if it gets too rough down there!!"

He took one last look at the life he's leaving behind before shaking his head and settling himself unhappily into the car. Thinking back on his life, he realized all the fun he's he leaving and all the crap he's going into. Their three-bedroom beach house on the West Coast, his best friends and their Friday night campfire rages, surfing and jet-skiing, kayaking and waterskiing, fishing and swimming, even building sandcastles for crying out loud. He'd miss that too.

As a child, his parents had taken him on plenty of day trips to all of California's famous sights. Death Valley had been a big thrill to him. The hottest, driest, and lowest desert in the world is always fascinating, and Troy remembers taking his picture on top of a few of the sand dunes while his parents looked on, truly astounded by the geography. The Great Basin, the Sierra Nevada, and the Mojave Desert were others he greatly enjoyed, as well as Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. But Yosemite National Park and the great Sequoia trees really did him in. He recalls spending hours in both parks, just amazed by the size of the trees and the wildlife in the park.

As Jack Bolton drove past the "Welcome to New Mexico!" sign, Troy scowled and turned away from the window. He'll never see any of those things ever again.

* * *

Seventeen-year-old Gabriella Montez hated three things.

"Gabriella! Get your butt out of bed!"

One: Getting out of bed.

"You're going to be late for school!"

Two: School.

A very pregnant Maria Montez appeared at the doorway of her bedroom and frowned.

Three: Pregnant Mothers.

"I'm up, I'm up," Gabriella groaned, rolling over and pushing the sheets away from her body. "Don't get yourself worked into early labor."

Maria shot Gabriella a warning look before heading back down the hall into the kitchen. Gabriella sighed and glanced to the right of her bedside table towards the bunk beds her twin sisters share. They were happily making their beds perfectly, humming along to a song from some ridiculous Disney Channel movie they caught last night. Gabriella shook her head, smiling at the two. How easy life was in fifth grade. She decided to get herself ready as well, seeing as the homeroom bell would ring in exactly one hour.

"Mom's getting sick of having to wake you up every morning." One of the twins, Miranda, told her while placing a pink sham in front of her pillow.

"Yeah," The other twin, McKenzie nodded in agreement. "She says you have an alarm clock that works, so use it."

"Thank you, twin terrors," Gabriella said sarcastically before choosing a pair of jean shorts and a yellow tank top to wear. After changing, she trudged to the kitchen, where the rest of her large dysfunctional family was seated eating breakfast.

Gabriella Montez was the oldest of six soon-to-be-seven children. Her parents, Richard and Maria Montez, had married at the mere age of twenty-two, and had had Gabriella only ten months after their honeymoon. "Having kids is their favorite thing," they always said. "We both always wanted a big family." When Gabriella was five, her brother Nicholas was born, and they couldn't have been happier with their perfect little girl and their perfect little boy. But... they still wanted more. So when Gabriella was seven and Nicholas was two, the twins, McKenzie and Miranda were born. Things were already a bit crowded in their three-bedroom (very _small_ bedroom) home in the Pleasantville Apartment Complex (If you're looking for that perfectly pleasant village to live in, you've looked too long!), but they got even more crowded when Gabriella was ten, Nicholas was five, and McKenzie and Miranda were three. Their brother Alexander was born, making the Montez family total five children to two adults.

They thought they were done having kids, as Gabriella and the twins were bunking in one room, with Nicholas and Alexander in the other. But when Gabriella was thirteen, Nicholas was eight, McKenzie and Miranda were six, and Alexander was three, Jacob was born into this large family, and Richard and Maria finally said enough was enough. Richard didn't make enough money to be able to afford an actual house, so the large family would have to stay in the apartment until the kids left them one by one. Maria worked from home as an event planner, though on occasion she had to leave to do the irregular errand. But other than that, life for the Montez's was good. Gabriella was seventeen, Nicholas was twelve, McKenzie and Miranda were ten, Alexander was seven, and Jacob was four.

... And Maria is pregnant with her fourth little girl.

So much for enough being enough.

"It really makes me sick that you two keep having sex." Gabriella stated outwardly at breakfast that morning. She was seated on top of the counter eating a Pop-Tart and watching her younger brothers fight over the syrup bottle for their waffles.

"What's sex?" Alex asked his father. The twins giggled and Nick blushed.

"Nothing, son," Richard replied. "Gabriella, do not talk like that in front of your siblings."

"I just don't want you to move out, Gabriella," McKenzie said, her eyes sad as they fell upon her older sister.

"Why? Are you going to miss me?"

"No," Miranda answered. "We just don't want to share a room with a newborn baby."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. The baby was set to take Gabriella's space in the girls' room once she left for college, a thing she couldn't _wait_ to do. "Thanks, Randa. I'm glad to know I'm really wanted here."

"I want you here, Gabby." Jake uttered quietly, walking into the kitchen sleepily.

She grinned and kissed the top of his head. "Thank you, Jake. I gotta head out now. Taylor's waiting. See you all later."

A chorus of goodbyes was heard as Gabriella grabbed her backpack and headed out of the door of the apartment and down the stairs. She said a quick hello to the doorman at the front of the beautiful apartment doors before heading out into the humid New Mexican air. Sure enough, her best friend Taylor McKessie was waiting on the sidewalk outside the complex, a grin upon her face as she spotted her best friend coming towards her. They greeted each other warmly before walking towards East High School.

"How was everything this morning?" Taylor cordially asked as they sat down in their respective desks in homeroom. "You know, with the crazy family?"

"Ugh," Gabriella groaned for the second time this morning. "I envy your family. It's freaking perfect."

Taylor shook her head. "Not really. Unless you call an ER doctor mother who is never home and a lawyer father who's always 'late working on a case' perfect."

Gabriella felt guilty. Taylor's family wasn't the closest family in America. "Sorry, Tay. At least you don't have siblings, though. They're a pain in the ass."

"Yup, it's really fun to come home to an empty household."

The brunette was about to apologize again before their homeroom teacher Miss Darbus silenced them to inform them about everything going on in the school. Just then, a tall, tan boy with piercing blue eyes and shaggy brown hair walked in the doorway apprehensively while also trying to look cool. He was wearing tan khaki shorts, a light blue shirt, and a shell necklace. Shaking the hair out of his eyes, he glanced at the class before giving Miss Darbus a short nod. She grinned.

"Hey, check out the new guy," Taylor motioned towards him and Gabriella gave him the once-over.

"He's hot." Sharpay Evans commented from the other side of Gabriella.

"Look at the way he's dressed," Chad Danforth smirked. "Must be from someplace tropical."

"I heard Bermuda."

"Really? I was thinking more Caribbean..."

"Bermuda's in the Caribbean, dumbass."

"Class, settle down, please," Miss Darbus talked smoothly. "This is Troy Bolton. He just moved here this morning and his father is going to be the new basketball captain for the Wildcats."

Jason Cross raised his hand. "What happened to Coach Reynolds?"

Miss Darbus hesitated. "He won't be joining us anymore. Anyway, Troy, welcome to East High! It really is a wonderful school and I hope you'll find it to be very inviting. In fact, for your first day, you will be following a day in the life of one of my students, just so you can get a sense of what East High entails. Does that sound good to you?"

It's Troy's turn to hesitate, but eventually, he nodded.

"Great! Today you'll follow one of these students, and then tomorrow the student will help you get acclimated to your new schedule. Then you're on your own! Oh, but don't worry dear, I'm sure you'll do just fine."

He cleared his throat but said nothing.

"Does the kid even talk?" Gabriella whispered to Taylor, who giggled.

"So, I've chosen one of you to be Mr. Bolton's escort and tour guide for today and tomorrow..."

"Oh joy." Taylor said as Sharpay sat up eagerly in her seat.

"Would this person please come up here and introduce yourself to Troy?"

"Man, it would suck to be the one who has to show that kid around." Gabriella declared.

"Gabriella Montez." Miss Darbus said finally and Gabriella's jaw dropped.

"M-Me? Why me?" Gabriella questioned as she made her way to the front of the room.

"Well you have a very prestigious academic transcript, plus you're one of the most well-rounded students we have in your graduating class," Miss Darbus explained. "I'm sure Troy Bolton will learn a lot from you.

She ushered them out the door and closed it.

Silence.

"So... hi. I'm Gabriella Montez-" Gabriella began to say, but Troy cut her off.

"I know who you are."

"You do?" She asked skeptically. "I don't see how."

He smirked. "The crazy lady just said your name twelve times."

Gabriella scoffed. "She only said it once."

"Seemed like twelve."

She shook her head, determined to get on good terms with him if she had to take him around the school all day. "So where are you from?"

"So Cal," He answered coolly. "That's Southern California, you know."

"Of course I know what that is! Why are you assuming I'm such a dimwit?"

Troy shrugs. "Why are you assuming I'm such a conceited jerk?"

Gabriella didn't see where he got this from. "Well, you sure are acting like one."

"Takes one to know one."

"Oh my god, that was really mature."

"I don't need to be mature," Troy sighed. "I just need you to tell me where my first class is."

"It doesn't matter," Gabriella shook her head again. God, this kid sure created a lot of head shaking situations. "You're following me all day, remember?"

"Yeah, okay. That's what I want to do."

"Troy," Gabriella began in frustration. "Why the hell are you acting like this? There's no way you're going to make friends if you act like that!"

He stepped closer to her. "Maybe I don't want to make friends."

"Well good," She retorted. "Because you aren't going to with that attitude."

"I'm shaking in my sandals, Montez." He snorted, walking ahead of her.

For once, Gabriella had been outsmarted. She never found someone that was as sarcastic as she was, and talking to Troy Bolton made her a little intimidated. Was this what it felt like when she was on the receiving end of the sarcasm she made her family and friends endure every day? It felt similar to a slap in the face, she thought. Besides, who gave this new kid the right to talk to her like that? She'd been living in Albuquerque all her life and he'd only just come in. That wasn't how people acted here. Maybe in California you were allowed to disrespect someone, but not in New Mexico. Gabriella stared off after his shrinking figure at the end of the hallway.

"You think you're so great?" She called out lamely. "You don't even know where you're going!"

* * *

"... and I'm telling you Taylor, he's such a jerk!" Gabriella complained, walking out to the balcony of her apartment later that afternoon to get a breath of fresh air. "He continued to insult everything about this place throughout the whole day. My god, if he doesn't like it, he should just go back to the 'oh so great' So Cal."

"_I know what you mean,_" Taylor sighed from the other end. "_He seemed like an ignorant jerk from the moment he walked in the door._"

"Oh he is. He-" She continued to grumble before stopping and squinting down into the parking lot. A large brown moving truck and a small blue car were making their way into the Pleasantville Apartment Complex parking lot, and coming to a stop right outside her building. "Hey Taylor, I think we're getting new neighbors."

"_Really?_" Taylor wanted to know. "_Someone's finally moving into Kelly McCarthy's old place?_"

"I guess so; that's the only apartment available in this building as far as I know." Gabriella continued to watch as the apartment landlord greeted the new family, which consisted of three people. "I can't even see the people from here. I'm going to go downstairs and get a closer look."

"_Okay. I have to go get dinner started anyway, Gabriella. Call me later and tell me how your new neighbors are._"

"I will. Bye Taylor." She hung up and went back inside just as the family and her landlord were meeting and engaging in conversation. Placing the phone on the hook, she surveyed her family's whereabouts, noting that her mother was out on an errand and her father was still at work. Nick was chatting away on his cell phone- he claimed hundreds of girls were interested in him, Miranda and McKenzie were doing their homework at the kitchen table, Alex was steering a remote control car around the living room floor, and Jake was watching television. Gabriella sighed.

"Who wants to go get the mail?"

No response.

"Guys, come on. Kenz? Randa? Do you girls want to do it?"

The twins glanced at her and said in perfect unison, "We're doing our homework. We're busy."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Nick?"

He sighed in frustration and glared at her. "I'm on the phone, stupid."

"Alex?"

"Can I bring my car?"

"No."

"Then no."

Gabriella was running out of options. "Jake, do you want to go get the mail with me?"

"Sure," He shrugged, turning off the television and taking hold of his oldest sister's hand. "Let's go."

"Thank you, Jake. Everyone else, I'll be right back. No one do anything stupid, got it?"

They all shrugged or nodded in response, not really paying any attention to her. She just closed the door behind her and jingled the mailbox keys in her hand as she and her brother made their way downstairs to the boxes. Just as they approached their mailbox, the landlord and the family moving in entered the lobby of the apartment. Gabriella grinned; knowing now was when she'd get a glimpse of the people moving next door to her. She pretended to leaf through the mail as she secretly watched the conversation over the letters.

"... and there's excellent proximity to the high school, East High, as well as the downtown area where most of the great shopping is. Your neighbors are also very quaint and sociable." Mr. Porter, the landlord explained. "I'm sure you'll find this to be your home away from home until yours is built and ready for you."

"Mr. Porter!" Jake squealed excitedly and ran over towards him.

"Jake!" Gabriella called after him, not wanting to blow their cover so the family wouldn't think they were watching them, even if they were. "Don't run away from me!"

"Ah, here are some of your neighbors now!" Mr. Porter laughed. "Jake Montez and his sister Gabriella."

Gabriella took Jake's hand again as she smiled at the nice man and woman before her. "Hi. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, dear." The woman said, shaking her hand.

"314, huh?" The man asked, noticing her mailbox key as he shook Gabriella's hand next. "Isn't that funny? We're moving into 316."

"Oh well then these are your next door neighbors!" Mr. Porter seemed delighted. "Gabriella, this is Jack and Kathryn Bolton."

"It's a pleasu- wait, did you say Bolton?" Gabriella's heart rate sped up.

Just then, a step behind his mother and father, Troy Bolton came into view. They took one look at each other before pointing their fingers accusatorily against each other and uttering the same word.

"You!"

* * *

**... So what do you think? Continue it? Trash it? Help me out by reviewing!!**


	2. Don't Call Me Gabby

**Hi guys! Listen, I'm really sorry it took me almost a month to get this out to you, but I wasn't sure if I was going to continue it or not. Then when I decided I would, I didn't know what to write. But anyways, here it is. I loved your reviews, thank you very much. And to the people who said they wanted to see my other story ideas, you're going to! I have another one in the works right now, and I'll get that first chapter posted ASAP. I know some of you said this storyline is a bit cliche, and I totally agree. But I'm not going to make it like the others. I like to spice my stories up a bit (or a lot) so this won't be like others. Promise you.**

**Oh, and I know Troy's a jerk in this chapter, but just you wait. There's a reason for his hostility.**

**I own nothing. Enjoy chapter two!!**

* * *

Chapter Two: Don't Call Me Gabby

Gabriella felt speechless as she continued to stare back at the boy she'd been carting around all day. He'd been mean and spiteful to her the entire day and she vowed to herself that she wouldn't make contact with him every again after her tour guide position ended the next day. How could she ignore him if he was going to live right next door?

"You didn't tell me you lived here." Troy accused quietly, knowing he was being watched by his parents and Mr. Porter.

"You didn't tell me you were moving in here." She accused right back, pushing her little brother, arms full of mail, towards the stairs.

"Why would that have been any of your business?"

Gabriella scoffed. "Well, me telling you where I lived is none of your business either."

He held up his hands in defense. "Whoa, put away those silver bullets. It was just a question."

She rolled her eyes. "Smooth."

"Gabby," Jake whined from her side. "I wanna finish watching my show!"

"Little brother?" Troy smirked, noting at the four-year-old boy.

"Babysitting," She lied, shaking her head. "Ever done it before?"

He laughed coldly. "Never. I hate kids."

"Yeah, you know, in your case, you'd probably actually sit on them." Gabriella sneered.

"Gabby!"

"You better get going," Troy nodded towards the little boy. "_Gabby_."

She shot him a look of disgust. "Do _not_ call me that."

Gabriella turned away on her heel and stomped up the stairs, taking Jake's hand as she did so. Troy looked on in amusement. "Okay. Whatever you wish... Gabby!"

* * *

"Troy, your bedroom is the one at the end of the hall. We gave you the balcony." Kathryn explained as she unwrapped some dishes and silverware from the newspaper she'd covered them in and put them away in the cupboards. "I know it's not salty sea air you'll be breathing in, but at least you'll have a place to get away."

Troy groaned. "It's not the same."

"Of course it's not, but you'll have to deal with it. We've all had to make adjustments, not just you." His mother shot back at him, rinsing off some dust in the sink.

"Like what, Mom?" Troy asked desperately. "How could what you're feeling relate to me?"

"Well first of all, I had to leave my home and friends just like you did, mister," She glared at him. "And second of all, the world does not revolve around you."

"No shit, I know that, but-"

"Watch your language."

"_But_," He continued anyway. "I'm sure there's another book club around here you can join. Just make new friends."

"Are you listening to your self? You're actually giving _me_ the advice _you_ should be taking." Kathryn sounded fed up. "Stop playing the victim."

"Kathy, where's the entertainment system cabinet?" Jack Bolton asked his wife, walking into the kitchen.

"The big box labeled 'Entertainment Cabinet,'" Kathy informed her husband. "God Jack, you act just like Troy sometimes. Open your eyes and search, why don't you?"

"There's no box that says that!"

"Of course there is! I wrote it!"

"Troy, were you in charge of putting that box in the moving van?"

Troy shrugged. "Was I in charge of putting _anything_ in the moving van?"

Kathy let out a scream in frustration and stomped out into the living room. Jack sent his son a pointed look. "Troy Bolton, go to your room."

"What am I, five?" He laughed scornfully. "Don't worry Dad, I'm already there."

* * *

"Taylor, he lives _next door_. Next door!"

Gabriella was freaking out. How could she even exist if he was living next door? She was truly disgusted that someone normal couldn't have moved into the apartment next to her. Why did it really have to be Troy Bolton? When she'd told her parents, they hadn't really cared, which made her even angrier. She informed them of the hell he'd put her through earlier that day and how much she already loathed him, but neither one of her parents showed a bother. They told her it was childish to act the way she was, and asked her if she would please set the table.

So she did. But not without calling her best friend or without the subject slipping her mind.

"_Yeah Gabriella, that's bad. Now, not only can he annoy you at school, but he'll annoy you at home too._" Taylor McKessie sighed. "_Get ready for a lot of fake pizza orders and Ding Dong Ditch_."

"This is such a pain in the ass," Gabriella complained. "There are so many apartment complexes in Albuquerque and his family _had_ to pick this one."

"Mom, Gabriella said a bad word." Alex tattled to their mother, coming into the kitchen and taking a seat at the table.

"Gabriella," Maria warned. "How many times have I told you-?"

"About a zillion, Mom," She groaned. "Listen Taylor, I'll see you tomorrow. I've gotta eat dinner and that horrendous math project still awaits me."

"_Way to put that off until the last minute_," Taylor laughed. "_Bye_."

"Bye."

Gabriella hung up the phone and sat down at the dinner table with her family. She was quiet for the most part, eating her chicken, rice, and corn slowly and contemplating how she was going to get through the mess she was in. Miranda and McKenzie were fighting over who had the best clothes and who was going to look better for the fifth grade graduation dance, but the argument was settled when Nick told them it didn't matter because they were identical twins and had the same clothes anyway. Alex was telling his father what had happened at school that day, while Jake was whining to his mother about having to go to the doctor for a checkup the following morning. It was a typical dinner at the Montez household- loud, chaotic, and randomly spread.

"Gabby, honey? Are you okay?" Maria asked after a while. "You haven't said a word the whole night."

"Yeah, fine." She replied nonchalantly. "Don't I look fine?"

"Not really, sweetheart."

"She's mad because this new guy moved next door and she hates him," Nick laughed at her. "Sucks for you!"

Gabriella kicked him under the table and smiled satisfactorily when he stopped laughing and clutched his shin. "Ow!"

"Nick you had it coming," Richard decided.

"I'm sure the Boltons are very nice people," Maria commented, standing and bringing some dishes to the sink. "Gabby, will you help me tonight?"

"Sure," She sighed. "But you don't get it, Mom. Troy Bolton is going to make my life miserable. He's already started."

"Gabriella, I have faith that this boy will not destroy your life. Just be yourself. Try and be friends with the boy; I'm sure he's only acting out to attract attention."

Gabriella snorted. "Yeah right. You want me to be friends with him? I don't think so."

"Why not? You could use a man in your life. You've been so bitter since-"

"Don't," She warned her mother. "Don't bring up the Matt incident."

Maria noted that her daughter was still sensitive about the subject. "Alright." Turning her back on Gabriella, she listed, "Miranda, there are clothes that need washing and drying. It's your turn for the laundry."

Miranda groaned. "But Mom-"

"No buts missy, you know we have chores around here. Do not give me any grief about this." She eyed the girl as she stalked out of the kitchen. "McKenzie, sweep the floor in here and the laundry room."

"Mom, none of my friends have chores." McKenzie scowled, grabbing the broom from the kitchen closet.

"I don't care. None of your friends have six other siblings, do they?" Maria turned to her oldest son. "Nick, the garbage. Can you take it out to the dumpster for me?"

"I guess so. When do Alex and Jake get to have chores? They're old enough now, right?" The teenage boy wanted to know.

"They do have chores. They have an extremely messy bedroom that needs to be cleaned. Boys, do your stuff." Maria observed as Nick left the apartment with the garbage bags and the younger boys raced to their bedroom. She then turned back to Gabriella. "Now, who do you think should take over your job when you leave me in a few months?"

"Mom, I'm leaving August fourteenth. It's only October." Gabriella pointed out, drying a few dishes and putting them away. "But... I don't know. Who do you think will be able to do as good of a job as I do?"

Maria laughed. "No one. That's the problem."

"Well I guess Dad can help. He's the only one without a chore."

"You're right," She agreed. Noticing the faraway look in her daughter's eyes, she smiled. "Gabriella, why don't you ask Troy Bolton and his family over for dinner? That way your father and I can meet his parents and we'll welcome him into the neighborhood."

Gabriella dropped the glass she was drying and watched as she clanged against the sink again. "What?! No!"

"Why not? I think that's a perfect way for you two to become friends and it'll be a good way for us to meet the new neighbors."

"Mom, are you freaking serious? I don't want to meet the neighbors. I don't want to be Troy's friend. Are you even listening to me?"

"Gabriella, you're being very stubborn. Just invite him; I'm sure he won't say no."

"Mother, did you hear what I just said?" Gabriella stared at her mother in disbelief. "I. Don't. Want. To. Befriend. Troy. Bolton! And of course he'll say no. He has no reason to say yes."

Before Maria could respond, Gabriella hurried to her bedroom and shut the door, diving upon her bed. Her mother wasn't listening to her. Her father wasn't listening to her. No one understood. Troy was a _menace_. She couldn't invite him to her house... what would he think? She acted so sarcastic and blasé about everything around him. She couldn't actually show him she had a real family with her billions of siblings and hormonal mother. She might be stubbornly overreacting, but one thing was for sure.

Troy Bolton would _never_ set foot in her house.

* * *

"Hey! Gabby!"

Gabriella groaned and closed her eyes, ignoring the taunting voice behind her and continuing on her walk to school. How could she let him get to her like that? He was just so irritating... yet there was something about him that made it easy to let go. Something he'd say or do would be lost after just one look. Maybe he was playing that game; that silly game middle school kids played when they liked one another and teased each other to show that. Maybe. But was he _that_ immature?

"Gabby," Troy finally caught up with her. "Why are you ignoring me?"

"Don't call me Gabby," She growled. "If I have to be cordial to you in school, I'm not going to waste my energy being nice to you out of school."

"Hey, same here. You think I want to be paraded around by some inexperienced bookish girl? You probably have never had a boyfriend before and are still in the 'boys have cooties' stage. Way to go, 'Geek'-riella Montez. Way to go."

She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to him. "Don't judge me! You're the one who's come here from the freaking beach house with your butler at your service. You dress in these ridiculous clothes and act like you're the shit. Wake up and smell the roses, dumbass. You're _not_ in California anymore."

Gabriella turned away icily, walking faster so he couldn't catch up. Troy watched her go in shock. Someone actually _dared_ to stand up to him. No one had ever spoken to him like that before. No one had ever had the courage to speak in the same sardonic tone he had his entire life. He finally found someone who was as sarcastic, as bitter, as he was. And to tell the truth, he liked it. Smiling slightly, he walked behind her and called after her.

"You're not going to correct anything I just said?"

"I have nothing to prove to you." She spat coldly.

They were right outside the school now, and Troy grabbed her arm, stopping her from going up the stairs. "I like your attitude, Gabby. Reminds me of myself."

Gabriella stepped closer to him, staring him directly in the eye. "Do not call me Gabby."

Troy watched as she stomped up the stairs in anger and ripped the door open, practically throwing herself inside it. He chuckled to himself and followed her. It was going to be one hell of a year.


	3. One of the Guys

**Hey y'all! Yeah, I'm not Southern... but anyways, here's the newest chapter of 'If You Lived Here.' Please take some time to check out my newer story 'Summer Nights' and leave me a review if you haven't already (thank you to the people who have). Major thanks for all the reviews!! They keep me going, seriously. I wouldn't continue a story if it wasn't getting any feedback, so keep those reviews coming!!**

**So in this chapter, Gabriella gets super annoyed with the guys who want to accept Troy when she still doesn't. We also get sort of an inkling as to why Gabriella' s so bitter, although the full story will come later. But as for Troy? Nobody knows...**

**I own nothing. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Three: One of the Guys

"So I'm thinking," Chad Danforth commented that very same day at lunch. "That this Troy Bolton kid might actually be kind of cool."

Gabriella nearly choked on her water. "Excuse me? Weren't we just dead-set against him a few minutes ago?"

She, Chad, Taylor McKessie, Zeke Baylor, Jason Cross, and the rest of the East High Wildcats' basketball team were seated at one of the school's large red tables in the middle of the cafeteria. They were discussing everything and nothing; from the events of senior year to the big game coming up in January, and everything else in between. Then somehow, the topic came up about Troy Bolton moving here and being the new kid. And out popped such a preposterous statement from Chad's mouth.

"Nope," He confirmed the negative. "A few hours ago. As in yesterday. But today? He's... kinda different."

"No no no, 'kinda different' would be if Taylor and Jason dated, instead of her dating you," Gabriella shook her head. "Troy isn't 'kinda different.' He's... atypical."

"Yeah, come on. Aren't we on Gabriella's side, here?" Taylor asked, popping a potato chip into her mouth.

"Well we were, until she mentioned that you and I dating would be weird," said Jason, eyeing the brunette, who laughed.

"Jason that would be weird." Taylor agreed, scrunching her nose in disgust.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously and honestly."

"Not even if you and Chad broke up in a horrible fight and I was the only one to comfort you?" Jason asked curiously.

"Not a chance."

"Anyway," Gabriella broke up their conversation. "Back to the more important matter, here- Troy."

"Nice to hear you can't get me out of your thoughts, Montez," Troy's voice filled the air as he grinned that sarcastic loopy grin of his and sat down next Chad- directly across from Gabriella.

"Um, very funny. We were actually talking about how much we hated-"

"-not having you here!" Zeke finished for her. "Join us. You trying out for the team this season?"

Troy shrugged. "I don't think so. I mean, I didn't play much basketball back home. Well, unless you count those pointless high school face-offs where I scored _every point_ in the game. You know, easy."

The guys stared wide-eyed and Gabriella rolled her eyes. Troy continued. "It wasn't hard; the other team practically handed me the ball. It was actually kind of boring. Our games were pretty much won on a one-seventy-six to zero game."

"Conceited." The brunette muttered.

"Amazing!" Zeke shouted, clearly awed. "You _have_ to play for us!"

"Why not? It'll give me something to do, I guess."

"Yeah, you'll need something to tide you over when you're not kissing the teachers' asses and shooting off snide remarks." Gabriella sneered, standing and walking furiously out of the cafeteria.

Troy watched her go, an amused expression on his face. "She wants me."

"Yeah, you wish." Taylor glared at him before following her best friend to the girl's bathroom where she was so obviously headed.

He laughed at this too, just knowing that if the two of them could play this game, one of them would eventually give in. There was only so much he could take, he knew, but didn't believe that Gabriella could push him that far. He didn't know what her sarcastic-comment capacity was, but he was pretty sure that it was high. Irregardless, he was going to try as hard as he ever had to make her fall. After all, when two strong forces meet and combine, a cosmic explosion occurs and after it's all over, only one would stand victorious.

One of them was going to give in.

"Guys, I'll meet you later," Troy told his friends, eyeing the hallway. "I've got some business to take care of."

One of them was going to give in, and it wasn't going to be him.

* * *

"Gabriella?" Taylor questioned, stepping into the girl's bathroom and closing the door. "You're in here, right?"

A groan was heard from behind the sinks and Gabriella came into view. "Yes."

"Thought so."

"And you found me how?"

"Gab, there's no where else for you to go during lunch hour."

"True."

Gabriella was sitting against the wall behind the sinks that was extremely hard to reach and nearly impossible to see when you first walk into the bathroom. It was a small little crevice that she'd found a few years ago as a freshman, and had made it her own little hideout when she needed to get away from the stress and frustration of school. The only other person who knew about this spot was Taylor, so it was only obvious to her where her best friend was headed when she stormed out of the cafeteria.

Taylor climbed behind the wall of sinks and sat down next to her best friend. "He's got you that irritated, huh?"

She groaned again. "Ugh, yes. He does this to none of the other girls. _None_. And I'm completely and totally freaking annoyed to _hell_ right now."

"Of course he doesn't do this to any of the other girls," Taylor agreed. "He acts completely normal to them and to the guys. Everyone except you."

Gabriella gave her friend a look. "How is this helping?"

She threw her hands up in defense. "Hey, I was just agreeing with you. You're right, you know. He made friends with Chad and all the other basketball jocks and he flirts around with Sharpay and the rest of those blonde robots, but he only pisses _you_ off."

"Why me, Taylor? I think this is Miss Darbus' fault. She _had_ to pair me up with him."

"Gabriella, don't you see it? I think he sees you as a deflection. You're getting in his way of becoming the God he wants to be. He shoots you down, but you talk back. No one else really has the courage, you know? They feel like he's this amazing person from a different world who's come here, but you see him as any other person. And you know what? He doesn't like that. He wants you to grovel. He wants you to worship him just like everyone else."

The realization hit Gabriella and she gasped. "Do you really think so?"

Her best friend nodded. "Absolutely. But you're smarter than that, Gabriella. You're smarter than all the rest of them who are out there right now bowing at his presence. And he's smart too. But Troy doesn't want there to be two overly smart people at this school. So _that_ is why he's pissing you off. He wants to get this through to you."

"Damn it. He's smarter than I thought." Gabriella sighed.

"Exactly."

Taylor and Gabriella finished their conversation just as the bell rang signaling the end of the period. Taylor hopped up and started out of the bathroom, turning to ask her best friend if she was coming too, and she nodded, telling her she'd meet her in American Literature, their next class. Gabriella got to thinking about Troy again. No matter what she was thinking about her thoughts always led to Troy somehow. He was just so _irritating_. But some part of her liked that fact. Matt- the nightmare she'd talked about with her mother the night before- was so clingy and overprotective and Troy seemed so... different. Maybe it was a horrible kind of different, but maybe... just maybe, it wasn't.

And then she was thinking about Taylor's comments from before. What if she was right? What if Troy was only bugging her because he wanted her to fall? He wanted her to be the one to weaken so he wouldn't have to. He wanted her to give in. Well she wanted him to give in, that's for sure, so why shouldn't he want the same? They were pushing each other past their limits, and it only took so much for one of them to crack under the pressure. But Gabriella was sure about one thing.

It wasn't going to be her.

Gabriella pushed the bathroom door open and groaned when she caught sight of Troy leaning against the wall outside of it. "What do you want?"

"Well now that you're asking, I could really go for a strawberry-kiwi-banana smoothie," He smirked and she rolled her eyes.

"That has to be the most disgusting combo I've ever heard."

"It's actually quite delicious," Troy counteracted. "But you wouldn't know. I bet you've never had a smoothie before, have you?"

Gabriella began to walk down the hallway and sighed when he followed her. "Of course I've had a smoothie before. They sell them at the juice bar in the gym down the street."

"Oh please, that's not authentic. Back in So Cal, there was this one place that served the best-"

"Troy I don't care," Gabriella suddenly turned on him. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you asked what I wanted. And I want a smoothie."

"Yeah, and I want that new diamond bracelet at Zion Jewelers, but I don't have three-hundred dollars and you're not in So Cal anymore. So it looks like neither of us are getting what we want."

"You don't have three-hundred dollars?" Troy asked, and he seemed surprised.

Frustrated, Gabriella just exhaled. "No. I don't. Because down here, if you want something, you have to buy it yourself. This means getting a part-time job and actually earning the money yourself instead of taking it from your parents."

"You seem to spend a lot of your time telling me I'm not in California anymore."

"Oh my God, if I don't kill you before I get to American Lit, it'll be a miracle."

Troy laughed, which only irked her more. "And what are you going to kill me with? The spiral notebook or the worn-out copy of _The Grapes of Wrath_?"

"If I could kill you with either of them I would, but unfortunately I cannot."

"I don't know," He sounded skeptical. "Just reading the book would kill me."

"There's no _way_ you'd ever get into American Lit," Gabriella laughed. "Your smallish brain couldn't handle it."

"You're hilarious, Montez." Seeing her classroom approach, he said, "I gotta get going to my next class. You know, if I can find it with my 'smallish brain.'"

"Yeah you do. There's only a minute or two before the bell rings."

Gabriella stopped at the classroom and opened the door. She glanced back at Troy who was still standing there. "Now what?"

He just grinned. "Found it."

She gaped in horror. "You're not...?"

"Oh I am. Guess my brain isn't that smallish, now is it?"

She sat down in her usual seat and stared pointedly at him. "You weren't in this class yesterday."

"Oh Gabriella, you don't get it, do you? Yesterday we followed _your_ schedule, remember? I just failed to mention that I'm in this class too."

Gabriella's eyes narrowed. She _really_ couldn't stand this boy.

* * *

"Hey, Chad!" Troy called out to the bushy-haired boy just minutes after school got out.

Chad Danforth stopped walking and turned around. When he noticed who it was, he smiled and waved him over. "What's up, dude?"

"Nothing. You walking home?"

"Yup. I live close. You?"

"Yeah," Troy nodded, and the two engaged in conversation. Moments later, he asked the question that had been lingering all day. "So you're friends with Gabriella, right?"

"Uh-huh. We've been tight for a long time." Chad reminisced. "God, I've known her since kindergarten."

"That's cool. So... what's her deal?"

Chad suddenly looked confused. "Her deal? What do you mean?"

Troy shrugged. "I don't know. I guess... why does she act like a complete bitch?"

Then Chad chuckled. "Oh. Figures you'd ask me."

"Who else would I go to?"

"Well Gabriella isn't a bitch. Not to me and Tay and the rest of the guys, anyway. But you... I don't know. You've rubbed her the wrong way, I think."

"All I did was move here. It wasn't like it was my choice."

"Yeah, but she tried being nice to you the first day and you gave her attitude. So she decided that two could play at that game. And look at you now. Fighting like the cat and the canary."

Troy nodded, then asked, "Is she single?"

Chad laughed. "Yeah. Has been for quite some time now."

"Why? She's hot, and I'm sure the guys are falling all over her." Troy thought aloud. "Oh, unless she's inexperienced like I first thought she was."

His friend snorted. "Yeah right. Gabriella is _not_ inexperienced."

"... And that means?"

"Well I'm not saying she's over-experienced either, but her and Matt Rostrum, have you met him? They really had something. And she was never the same after they broke up."

Troy processed this new information. Gabriella was bitter. That made a whole lot of sense. "How long ago did they break up?"

"About two months. Right after school ended last year."

"That sucks."

"Yeah, she didn't take it very well."

After a moment, Troy asked, "Do you think she's taking her anger out on me?"

Chad shrugged. "She could be. But I don't know. Maybe you just piss her off."

Again, Troy wondered, "And do you think that anyone could ever get her to that stage she was in with Matt?"

"Not just anyone, Troy. The only one I think could actually do it is you."


	4. Bitter

**Hello again! I don't really have anything to say, but thank you all for the reviews, and here's the next one!!**

**I own nothing. Duh.**

* * *

Chapter Four: Bitter

"Gabby look!! I got my Halloween costume!!"

Gabriella sighed and glanced over at the door to the apartment where her youngest brother Jake was bouncing around excitedly with his costume in hand. She couldn't believe she'd already endured weeks of torture from Troy Bolton, and he still hadn't let up. Tomorrow was Halloween, and her siblings were extremely excited and spent hours picking out their costumes which Gabriella opted out of. She never really like this holiday anyway- especially after watching Michael Myers torment that girl in _Halloween_.

Her parents had spent a week or so decorating their entire apartment from top to bottom with black and orange décor. She was not amused. Everywhere she turned there was a skeleton, or a bat, or a jack-o-lantern and she was beginning to hate the day even more with each passing day. Gabriella was just glad there was no possible way to decorate the outside of the apartment. She didn't need another thing for Troy to tease her about.

Glancing back at her brother and parents, she tilted her head to the side, looking abstractly at the costume. "What is it?"

"It's a cow!!" Jake squealed excitedly. He'd always had an obsession with that animal.

"It is?" Her parents nodded from behind her and she rephrased the question into a statement. "I mean, it is! That's great, Jake."

"I know, it doesn't really look like one now. But I look like a cow when I wear it. Wanna see?"

"Sure."

"Okay! Let me go put it on, I'll be right back!!"

Jake raced into his room and Gabriella placed the book she was reading on the end table by the couch, sitting up. "Where's the other four?"

"They're coming." Maria answered, sitting next to her daughter while Richard went into the kitchen to start dinner. "They were right behind us a second ago."

"Maybe they got lost."

"Gabby," Maria warned. "Stop it. What would you do without your brothers and sisters?"

Gabriella just laughed. "One can only dream."

Just then, Nick, Miranda, McKenzie, and Alex walked into the apartment, arms full of bags with their costumes in them. Jake showed up as well in his full cow costume- a white suit with black patches, a headband with cow ears, a cow bell hanging from his neck, and a tail hanging from the back of the costume. He grinned. "Don't I look cool?"

"Yeah. You look just like a cow, Jake." Gabriella smiled, though she was truly annoyed by the lack of space and the loss of her quiet at-home moment.

"I'm going to be a pimp," Nick stated proudly, showing Gabriella his velour suit, large hat and glasses, and dollar-sign necklace.

"Why need a costume, Nick? You already are one."

"Hey!"

The twins giggled and Nick glared at his older sister before stalking back to his room. McKenzie held out her jeans, sequined pink shirt, khaki jacket, and cowboy boots, along with the microphone and blonde wig she purchased. "I'm going to be Hannah Montana."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Wow, Kenz, good idea. Dress up like her, because she's _such_ a good role model for kids."

McKenzie's face fell and she took a few steps away from her older sister, as if she wasn't used to the way she was acting. Miranda was next. "I'm gonna be a witch."

"Cute."

"I'm gonna be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!!" Alex presented proudly, laughing after he said the name. "I said it right this time."

Gabriella stood up suddenly. "You guys are pissing me off."

"Mommy, Gabby said a bad word again!!" Jake whined.

Ignoring her little brother, she crossed the living room and yanked open the sliding glass door that led to their balcony. Sliding it closed, she finally felt at peace with herself. Resting her elbows on the balcony's railing, she placed her head in her hands and closed her eyes, letting out a long breath. She hated having such a large family. She hated living in such close quarters with seven other people, and more importantly, she hated how she was no longer in control of her life. Ever since last summer, nothing went her way. She was going to crack under pressure, and she couldn't stand it any longer.

"Tough day?"

Gabriella looked up. She couldn't seriously be hearing his voice, could she?

"Suck it up, Gabriella. Life sucks."

She glanced to the left and found that Troy was also on his balcony. Lucky her.

"Troy, I'm really not in the mood to deal with you right now."

He stood up from the plastic chair he was sitting on and walked over to his railing as well. "Deal with me? What am I, five?"

"Well you pretty much have the mind of a five-year-old."

"And you have the insults of a five-year-old." Troy shot back. "God Gabriella, you'd think a seventeen-year-old bitter female would have a better vocabulary than that."

"Who says I'm bitter?" She wanted to know, glancing over at him.

He snorted. "You certainly aren't sweet."

Her mouth hung open in shock. She was truly speechless, and he caught on. "Well? Are you just going to stand there, mouth agape, or are you going to insult me back?"

She turned away. "I hate you."

"Likewise."

Gabriella stood up and leaned against the rail. "Why do you have to treat me like this? Why are we doing this to each other?"

Troy was caught a little off guard by her question, but didn't let it show. "Why not? I like the challenge."

"I have to get out of here." She stated suddenly.

Troy asked, amusedly, "You're not going to jump, are you? 'Cause if you do, I'll have to come after you."

She glared at him. "I'm not going to jump. I'm not suicidal."

"Alright. If you're sure."

Gabriella, without another word, stalked back inside her apartment while a chuckling Troy was left behind. "Gotta love her. You gotta love her."

* * *

"Happy Halloween everyone!" Chad greeted the lunch table that afternoon as he sat down with his purchased meal. "Who's coming to my party tonight?"

Everyone said they would, but Gabriella was quiet. Chad looked at her. "You're not coming, Gab?"

She looked up at him, ignoring the smirk beginning to form on Troy's face. "Oh, I can't. I'm busy."

"With what?" Taylor asked. "Are you working?"

"... Yeah. Unfortunately." Gabriella answered. "Sorry Chad."

"Aw, it's okay. We'll miss you, though."

"You're working, huh?" Troy asked, watching her suspiciously.

"Yes. Got a problem with that?"

"No, no, not at all." Troy shook his head. "I just don't believe you."

"What do you mean you don't believe me?" She asked incredulously. "It's the truth."

"Yup. That's what you want us to think."

Gabriella glared at him. "I hate you."

"Didn't we establish that already?"

"You are so lucky I finished this pudding a few minutes ago," Gabriella pointed to the empty pudding cup sitting on the table. "Because if I hadn't, it would be on your face right now."

He laughed slightly. "Is that a threat?"

"Absolutely."

The bell rang then, and Troy watched as she left with Taylor to go to their lockers before their next class. He was falling for her, he knew it, and he cursed himself for doing so. He hoped she was falling for him as well, so he didn't feel like a complete idiot. If she was, he had to continue their game of torment and torture until she fell first. Troy was never the one to admit his feelings. But if she didn't feel the same way about him as he did her... well, he didn't want to go there.

Later that night, while the party music was thumping loudly and bouncing off the walls in Chad's house, Troy decided he wasn't really in the mood for partying. What fun was it when the one you annoyed the most wasn't there? Making his way through the throngs of people in costumes- some took the holiday to extremes- and grabbing a cup of whatever flavor punch Chad had put out- it didn't matter, someone spiked it anyway- Troy bid farewell to his friend and stepped outside the pounding house.

And then stopped dead in his tracks.

"Can we go to the next house?"

"Sure Jake, let's just wait for Kenzie and Randa. Alex, please don't touch that pumpkin. If you knock it over, it's going to splatter and you'll be in a lot of trouble."

Gabriella Montez.

"Well well well, looks like you _are_ working after all." Troy chuckled, sauntering over to a flushing Gabriella and her siblings.

"I told you I was." She sighed, gripping Jake and Alex's hands tighter. "You were just being stubborn and ignorant."

"Ah, you've been studying the dictionary, haven't you?"

She scoffed. "Why do you think I'm so stupid?"

"Why don't you answer that one, okay?"

Just then, Miranda and McKenzie skipped up to their older sister. "Mrs. Abrams gave us Reeses!! King Size Reeses!!"

"Oh that's good. I love those." Gabriella smiled, trying to pretend Troy wasn't there. "Where's Nick?"

"I don't know, he found a group of his friends and went off with them," Miranda answered. "He said he'd be home around ten."

"Okay." Gabriella said, and then cursed under her breath, knowing that was an open opportunity for Troy to catch on.

"How irresponsible of you, Gabriella! Letting your client's child run off with someone you don't know!" Troy turned to McKenzie and asked, "Your Mom and Dad will probably be very mad with her, won't they?"

McKenzie shook her head. "No. Nick runs off with his friends all of the time."

"But she's getting paid to watch you guys and she let one of you run away?"

"Wait," Miranda turned on her sister. "You're getting paid to take us trick-or-treating?"

Troy looked slightly confused. "All babysitters get paid."

Alex laughed beside her. "Gabby's not our babysitter! She's our sister!"

Troy shot an amused glance at Gabriella. "Your sister?"

"Alex, I'll kill you. Go to the next house, please!" As the four ran off, Gabriella attempted to look at Troy, but he was too busy laughing hysterically for her to comment. "It's not funny."

"No it's not," He agreed, still laughing. "It's freakin' hysterical!"

"Shut up!" She shouted. "You don't know what it's like to have five siblings, okay? My father works all the time, my mother's freaking pregnant again, and my siblings really wanted to go trick-or-treating. I wanted to go to Chad's party, but no! I don't get to do what I want to do because I'm the oldest. I have to do whatever my mother tells me to do with them, and tonight that happened to be taking them all over God's creation begging for candy. You don't have these responsibilities, and you don't have to deal with what I have to, so shut up!!"

She spun on her heel, mentally patting herself on the back for such a speech, and headed over to where her brothers and sisters were currently asking a neighbor for candy. Troy stood speechless for a moment, thinking about what she'd just said to him. So Gabriella _did_ have a soft side. She took her brothers and sisters trick-or-treating; how nice of her. They all really seemed to adore her as well, and he smiled, thinking that now he really _would_ try to get her to open up to him. Jogging after her, he caught her arm and spun her around.

"What the hell? Let go of me; I have to go-"

"I think it's really nice of you to blow off a party you've been dying to go to, to take your siblings trick-or-treating." He confessed.

She crossed her arms. "Oh you do, do you? Are you sure you're not just saying that so I fall for you and then you rip the floor right out from under me again?"

Troy shook his head. "Nah. What kind of asshole would I be if I did that?"

"The one you've been since you moved here."

"I swear, Gabriella, I won't tell anyone what you were doing tonight instead of being at that party. Scouts honor."

"Yeah, right," Gabriella scoffed. "I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want," Troy began, backing away from her. "But I'm serious."

Gabriella turned her back on him and found her siblings in an instant. Could she really trust _him_?


	5. Dinner's At Five

**Ha ha, yeah. So I guess I owe you all an apology for not getting this out way sooner. But school started. And I'm a junior this year. And life is freaking hectic. Actually, if you're reading Summer Nights, you know this already. And if you're not, ... why aren't you?**

**Thanks for the reviews. I love you all!! And I own nothing, and personally believe this chapter is my favorite so far. :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Five: Dinner's At Five

Gabriella expected the worst when she came into school the following Monday after Halloween, but found that no one had any clue that there was anything wrong. Everyone knew Gabriella had siblings- except Troy, but unfortunately, there was no secret from him now- but if they found out that she had gone trick-or-treating with them instead of going to a party, her reputation would be completely down the drain. She could explain all she wanted that she wasn't the one begging for candy and that her parents had made her cart around her siblings all night, but no one would give her any kind of mercy.

Luckily for her, no one knew.

So Troy _really_ didn't tell anyone. She was utterly shocked. Although the day was still young; he could tell anyone and everyone by first period. She sighed and trudged towards her locker, saying hello to a few people on the way. Twisting the lock to her combination, she swung the door open and pulled out the textbooks and binders she would need for the first few periods. Gabriella shoved them in her bag before glancing over her shoulder at the blonde diva who was shouting her name.

"Gabriella!! Gabriella!"

Gabriella came face to face with a flustered Sharpay Evans. "Yeah?"

"Which should we do for the winter musical, _Fiddler on the Roof_ or _Les Miserables_?"

The brunette was deadpanned. "You rushed up to me, when normally we don't speak, to ask me that?"

Sharpay shrugged. "Why not? Oh Gabriella, please tell me you haven't forgotten about our amazing performances back in elementary and middle school? You haven't, have you?"

"No, I haven't." Gabriella had to humor the girl. "But theater is _your_ thing. Not mine. Why don't you ask Ryan or someone else who _cares_ about the winter musical."

"You used to care," Sharpay pointed out. "And it used to be _our_ thing. Not just mine."

Gabriella glanced over the blonde's shoulder. "We went our separate ways. We're two totally different people now."

"Oh I know, don't think I don't get that. But I really need an honest opinion." She persisted. "Do you think I'd be talking to you otherwise?"

"Well whatever you want works, okay? I have to get to class."

"But Gabriella, I really need your-"

"Oh my god!" Gabriella shrieked, whirling back around to look at the girl. "Go with _Fiddler on the Roof_, okay? That's my opinion."

Sharpay grinned as if she hadn't just been yelled at. "Okay! Thank you!"

Gabriella sighed and turned around again, hurrying off to her first period class and trying not to let little things get to her like that. She had an attitude problem, she knew, and tried to keep in check, but it was the little things people did that lured the ferocious side out of her. And upon seeing Troy Bolton approaching her, she knew it was only a matter of time before they saw it again. Whenever she was around him she felt completely bothered by his presence. But then again, there was something more she hadn't seen before...

"Move Montez, I gotta get to class."

"You think I don't?" She muttered as a rhetorical question.

He provided her with an answer anyway. "No, actually, I don't. You're a freaking super-genius, therefore if you missed class it wouldn't be a big deal. You could catch up in no time. I, however, have a 'smallish brain' remember? I can't handle being late or missing a subject."

"Oh my god, can you give up the smallish brain comment?" She rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry I said you were stupid. Is that what you wanted? An apology?"

Troy pretended to think about it. "No, not really. But I appreciate it anyway."

As the hallway began to clear out, Gabriella glanced around before asking, "Why didn't you tell anyone about Friday?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He stated, playing dumb.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." She said in frustration. "You knew that I took my brothers and sisters trick-or-treating instead of going to Chad's party and you didn't tell anyone."

"Yes." He grinned. "What's your point?"

"My point is why? Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I did tell everyone."

Gabriella stared at him skeptically. "No you didn't."

"Okay, I didn't."

"Why are you acting like this and why can't you just answer my question?"

"Ooh, I don't know. Answering two questions at once might hurt my smallish brain." Troy smirked, irking Gabriella even more.

Calmly, she took both of his hands in her own, and both Troy and Gabriella ignored the sparks that flew as she did so. She glanced into his eyes and spoke very clearly. "Thank you for not telling anyone. I just want to know why you didn't, okay?"

He gazed right back at her and answered, "Maybe it's none of their business."

And with that, he walked away, sincerely satisfied with himself at the thought of leaving Gabriella dumbfounded in the middle of the hallway.

* * *

"Hey Mom," Gabriella greeted her mother casually as she entered the kitchen that afternoon. Grabbing an apple, she sat down at the table and began her homework.

"Hi honey, how was school?" Maria asked from the spot where she was cutting carrots for the salad they would be consuming that evening at dinner.

"Fine, I guess. It's November now, so things are really kicking into gear. I have a million teachers trying to pressure me into applying to all sorts of colleges I have no interest in." She explained tiredly, working out a complex Calculus problem. "I already applied to the seven colleges I want. They need to learn that and get over it."

"Gabby, they're just trying to help." Maria pointed out, adding the carrots to a very large bowl of lettuce and tomatoes. She began cutting up a few peppers next. "It's their place and part of their job."

"I know," She grumbled. "How was your day?"

"Oh, fine. I went to an author's party for Kenzie and Randa this afternoon. Their whole class wrote autobiographies and your sisters wrote them on how large our family is." Her mother grinned, shaking her head a little. "They're just like you, you know."

Gabriella smiled faintly. "They are, I guess."

"I went to a doctor's appointment this morning. All things are looking good for your baby sister!" She exclaimed excitedly. "I can't wait to meet her."

"The excitement about a new baby never gets old, does it?"

Maria shook her head. "Never. I was excited about each baby just as much as I was excited about my first."

"Yeah right," Gabriella teased, getting back to her homework.

"It's true!" Maria grinned. A few moments later, a thought came to her. "Oh! And I ran into our new neighbor at the mailboxes today."

Gabriella stopped writing.

"We talked for an hour before I realized I still had to go shopping to get dinner for tonight, and she said she needed to as well. So we went to the grocery store together before I got this crazy idea that their family could come have dinner with us!"

"Mom, you didn't..."

"Well Gabriella, you didn't invite them like I told you to, so I took matters into my own hands." Maria explained. "Besides, Kathy is such a sweet person. Her husband is the new basketball coach, did you know that?"

"Yes I did. And her son terrorizes me in school, did you know _that_?"

Maria shot her daughter a stern look. "Gabriella, please finish your homework and help me get the house ready. Do not carry on like a child."

Gabriella scowled and pushed back from the table, thrusting her homework into her schoolbag and heading off to her bedroom. Maria called out, "Dinner's at five, what time is it?"

"Three-seventeen."

"Okay, we have a little under an hour and forty-five minutes. Don't take too long."

Around three-thirty, Nick, Miranda, and McKenzie arrived home and Gabriella ushered them to their respective bedrooms to change into clothes that were appropriate for a dinner party. She rushed around the apartment, cleaning, dusting, and vacuuming for the Bolton's arrival, not wanting to give Troy any ammunition come tomorrow. Alex and Jake came into the living room when Gabriella was tailoring Nick's khaki pants and dumped an entire box of mini Legos on the floor, laughing and beginning to build.

"No no no no!" Gabriella groaned. "Pick those up! We don't have that much time!"

The boys looked at each other before slowly putting their blocks back in the bucket. "You're mean!"

"No, I want a clean house for the guests." Gabriella sighed, turning back to Nick. "Can you hold still?"

"Not really. This is bori- OW!" Nick rubbed the spot where his older sister had just jabbed him with a pin. "Don't do that!"

Gabriella smiled slyly. "Sorry."

At four-thirty, Richard Montez walked through the door casually, reading a few bills he'd picked up from the mailbox in the lobby. Gabriella yanked his briefcase from his hands and shoved it in the coat closet. She explained the situation in full detail before pushing him into her parents' bedroom to change. Slamming the door behind her, she sighed. _Am I the only one who cares about having a moderately nice dinner tonight?_ She wondered. All of a sudden, as Gabriella was straightening the curtains on the windows in the kitchen, McKenzie and Miranda appeared, in their matching blue skirts and light blue blouses, by her side.

"Gabriella?" They addressed her in-sync.

"What's up girls?"

"Where's Mom?"

"Taking a shower, why?"

The twins exchanged a glance before Miranda asked, "You know that souvenir pillow from Hawaii in the living room?"

"Yeah," Gabriella nodded. "What about it?"

McKenzie answered this time. "Jake just threw up on it."

"Oh for crying out freaking loud!" Gabriella shrieked, rushing into living room where Jake was holding the soiled pillow and crying. She knelt by his side and rubbed his back. "Honey, it's okay. Do you still feel sick?"

He nodded slowly and Gabriella scooped him up in her arms, placing the pillow immediately in the washing machine. Alex and the girls were setting the table while Gabriella wiped off Jake's mouth, when suddenly there was a loud crash and the shattering of glass coming from the kitchen. A shout of "I didn't do it!" was heard, and Gabriella sighed. Nick was tending to the dinner while Maria showered, and then abruptly, there was a knock on the door.

Gabriella, who was still dressed in her jeans and t-shirt and had an ill child on her hip, opened the door to reveal Troy and his parents Jack and Kathryn.

"Hello Gabriella!" Kathryn greeted her happily. "It's so good to see you!"

But before Gabriella could answer, another glass shattered.

"It wasn't me!"

"There's glass all over the place!"

"Alex don't pick it up! Ew you're bleeding!!"

"Ow!"

"Gabriella, this stuff is burning!!"

She simply closed her eyes. "Come on in. Please excuse the chaos."

Gabriella placed Jake back on the floor and instructed him to go to his room to lie down. He did so, and she asked the Bolton's of they would please wait a moment as she fixed the turmoil in the kitchen. She turned off the stove and took the pasta off the burner. She swept up the broken glass, bandaged Alex's finger, and finished setting the table. After giving all four of her siblings a lecture, they returned to the living room, only to find their mother already speaking to the guests.

In her bathrobe.

"Mom!" Gabriella shrieked. "What are you doing?"

"Greeting the company, Gabby." Maria stated as if nothing were wrong. Troy seemed amused- the sight of an eight-month pregnant mother in her bathrobe could do that to you- and this made Gabriella blush.

"Please go get dressed," She pushed her mother back down the hallway and turned to her siblings. "Mr. and Mrs. Bolton... and Troy, this is Nick, Miranda, McKenzie, and Alex. Jake isn't feeling well, so he's upstairs lying down."

"Jake threw up." Alex explained to Jack Bolton, who nodded.

"Poor boy."

"Are you the one who's been pissing my sister off?" Nick asked Troy, who nodded proudly.

"Nice, dude."

"Nick! Shut up!" Gabriella was overly frustrated by this point, but nothing could match that frustration as when the introductions were over and the two families sat down to dinner. But someone forgot something was in the oven...

"Gabriella..." Nick whispered to his sister.

"What?"

"Three words: potatoes in oven."

"Oh my god!" She jumped up and yanked the oven door open and smoke came billowing out of it. The baked potatoes her mother had worked on for a half hour were burnt to a crisp. "Damn it to hell."

"Gabriella! You're language!" Maria chided.

Gabriella said nothing. She just sniffled a bit before uttering, "Well... you still have the pasta and the salad. Enjoy it."

She walked calmly out of the kitchen before heading to her bedroom. Once there, she pushed back the rows of clothing hanging in her closet before sitting down among her shoes and leaning her head against the wall, frustrated tears falling from her beautiful brown eyes. Everything that could've gone wrong, did. Everything she didn't want to happen, did. She'd made a complete fool out of herself in front of Troy, and she never wanted him to have that success. And now, he did.

A sound was heard in the hallway, but she ignored it. And she ignored his presence when he made it known to her by appearing in her room, staring down at her place in the closet. When blue eyes connected with brown, she did her best to wipe her tears away, wanting not to feel any more ridiculous than she actually did. Still, she said nothing and he crouched down so he was at eye level with her, questioning her positioning in the tiny little closet of her bedroom.

"The closet?"

She shrugged. "It's kind of nice in here."

Troy sat down beside her so they were both located in the closet and just looked at her, but she refused to look at him.

"So did you enjoy your dinner?"

"Gabriella..."

"What? I'm curious."

"Yeah, but you're not sitting in your closet crying because you're afraid of my parents not liking your mom's dinner."

She finally glanced at him. "How do you know?"

"Gabriella, come on."

"Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?" She asked him, ignoring his protests. "We hate each other, remember?"

"Oh don't worry, I know that." He assured her. "But I don't particularly enjoy it when girls cry."

"So did you come to comfort me?" She asked hopefully.

"No." Troy stated outwardly, standing up and exiting her closet, heading for the hallway. "I came to say you look stupid, so stop crying and come back to the kitchen. Your dinner's getting cold."

And although it was harsh, Gabriella found it strangely comforting.


	6. Dilemma in Diapers

**Yes I know. I really should be updating Summer Nights instead of this story. But this one is way more interesting to me right now. I'm in love with my ideas for the next few chapters and hopefully you will be too. Thank you to all of you who reviewed and favorited (haha, this isn't a word) this story. I love you all, and I hope you know that. Enjoy!**

**Oh, and credit goes to the person who wrote "Rock-A-Bye Baby." Yeah, it wasn't me. I own nothing.**

* * *

Chapter Six: Dilemma in Diapers

Troy Bolton did not, _did not_, enjoy it when his relatives visited.

It was mid-December by this point in time. Troy and his family had been living in the Pleasantville Apartment Complex in Albuquerque, New Mexico for about two months and he was beginning to get withdrawals from home. He really missed being able to go surfing or walk the boardwalk with his friends or get a smoothie at the juice bar...what an inconvenience that he now lived in a desert where there was no ocean to surf in or a boardwalk to walk down...

Or a place that served strawberry-kiwi-banana smoothies.

His father's younger sister Jillian and her husband Keith were visiting from Los Angeles with their baby Mitchell to show off their son and to see where their family was now living. They were fascinated by how beautiful the state of New Mexico actually was, even though Troy told them it was really nothing special. Mitchell, about four months old, was being fussy, and Jillian had to keep rocking him and figure out what was wrong. The entire time, Troy thanked God he was an only child.

"So what do you feel like for dinner, Troy?" Kathryn asked her son, who was watching television in the den. "Your father and I are taking Aunt Jill and Uncle Keith out on the town. They want to see the nightlife."

"I don't know. We have food here, right?"

"Of course. There's pasta, bread, cold cuts... you can make something for yourself, right?"

Troy nodded, uninterestedly flipping through the channels. Jillian sat next to him and tapped his knee. "How's school going, Troy?"

"Fine, I guess. It's the last year. It's all moving on and up from here on out."

"Where are you thinking of applying?" Keith asked, bouncing his son on his knee gently.

He shrugged, changing the channel again. "I don't know. I don't really know what I want to do with my life yet."

"Well you better figure it out soon. You don't have that much time left."

Troy made a face. He hated it when his relatives brought up and stressed college. Of course he had every intention of going, but many high school seniors don't figure out what they want to do until their sophomore year in college. He seemed like he'd be one of those people. He already had enough pressure from trying to decide what to do; he didn't need his parents or anyone else bothering him about it even more.

"Aunt Jill, how did you decide you wanted to be a cinematographer?" Troy asked finally, switching the TV off and turning to his aunt.

"Oh Troy, it wasn't my first choice. Not by a long shot. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an oceanographer," Jillian reminisced. "I loved whales and dolphins and all of the different kinds of fish in the sea. I decided that was exactly what I wanted to be. But, that didn't work out. You know why?"

Troy shook his head and Jack cut in. "Because one day, I was twelve and she was six. Our father took us to an aquarium and there was a shark exhibit. We stopped in for a second- just a tiny second- and Jill, why did we have to leave?"

Jillian's face turned red and she laughed slightly. "The shark attacked the tiny fish."

Jack laughed. "Exactly." He turned to Troy and explained, "She's terrified of sharks and isn't exactly too keen on blood either. So when the marine biologist fed the sharks and she saw the blood of the fish, that was it for her."

Troy smiled vaguely. "That's funny."

Jillian went on. "Anyway, then I decided I wanted to be an actress. I tried out for all the school plays and always made it, but never got a lead role. It really frustrated me because all I wanted to do was act. I was born for the stage-"

Jack snorted and she scoffed. "Jack, stop! I was! Mom said I was a little drama queen my whole life."

Troy was trying to figure out where this story was going and why it applied to him when she went on. "So I got really annoyed that I could never have a big role in the plays and musicals but I never gave up. But then junior year of high school my best friend convinced me to take a cinema course with her and that's when I fell in love with movie-making. I aced that class and went on to the advanced class the next year and the rest is history."

"But Aunt Jill, I don't have that. There is not one class that I'm taking right now that screams, 'You can do this for the rest of your life!'"

Jillian laughed. "It'll come to you, though. I know it will. Maybe not now, but sometime soon you will find what you're looking for."

Troy still didn't understand why she had to tell her entire story that didn't even have anything to do with him.

"Okay, are we ready to go?" Kathryn asked, appearing in the den clasping her bracelet to her wrist.

"Yes!" Jillian answered enthusiastically. She turned to Troy and grinned. "Thank you so much for volunteering to watch Mitch tonight. You're so sweet, Troy!"

Troy's eyes bulged and he jumped up, only to be stopped by his father. "Dad, I didn't-"

"Troy, you didn't want to come tonight, so this is what you're going to do for us instead."

"But I don't know how to take care of a baby!" Troy panicked as his aunt and uncle kissed their sleeping son goodbye and exited the apartment.

Jack sighed. "Of course you do. You've babysat for before back home."

"Yeah, but Aunt Jill was only a downstairs!!"

"We'll only be about twenty minutes from home." Jack was getting annoyed. "Just call if you need any help, alright?"

Troy sighed. "Fine. Whatever."

Jack nodded and left the apartment. Silence. Troy paced around the living room, wondering what to do. He could do this, right? It couldn't be that hard. All he had to do was watch the baby. He glanced over at the infant seat on the counter, where his cousin was fast asleep. _This isn't so hard_, Troy thought. _All he does is sleep anyway_. He walked back over to the couch and sat down. What to do now? It was a Saturday and he didn't have any homework to do. He sighed and flicked on the TV again, taking another look at his sleeping cousin.

Babysitting was so easy.

* * *

Gabriella Montez never left her homework for a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

And this was why.

From the very beginning Gabriella Montez had always done her homework on Friday night. Always. Her siblings and friends would always prefer to spend their night doing something more fun, like midnight bowling or having a sleepover. But Gabriella insisted on getting her work done before playing, so that Saturdays and Sundays were left for complacency. And here she was, lying on the couch reading the latest Meg Cabot novel in complete silence.

Her father had gone away for a week on business and her mother took her younger brothers and sisters to the park. Nick was typing an IM on the computer behind her, but otherwise was being completely quiet. It was like heaven, she thought, and dreamed for a little bit about how calm things would have been if it were only she and Nick instead of all the rest of the kids. Gabriella decided it would be much easier minus the other four children, but not nearly as much fun. She needed her brothers and sisters. As annoying as Miranda and McKenzie could be, what would she do without them? They looked up to her and she taught them everything she knew. Alex was a little crazy person but he was very kind and cuddly. Jake was quiet and was Gabriella's number one fan. He was always following her around. She smiled at these realizations. Her family might have been crazy, but it was totally worth it in the end.

Suddenly, bursting into the silence of the room, the phone rang, and Nick jumped to answer it, hoping it was the girl from science class he'd been checking out. "Hello? Holly?"

There was a short pause before he turned to his sister and made a face. "It's for you. It's some guy."

Gabriella raised an eyebrow before picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"Gabriella... it's Troy."

She sighed. "What do you want from me? Do you want to harass me on the phone too?"

There was a silence and cry in the background before he answered, "No... I need help."

"Well I'm glad you're finally realizing that," She smirked. "You know, I know this specialist that-"

"Gabriella, stop!" He sounded serious. "I really need your help. Can you come over?"

She had a strong urge to say no. After all, why would she help him when all he did to her was piss her off? Still, she found herself saying, "Sure. Give me a minute."

"Thanks."

Gabriella hung up the phone and faced her brother. "Nick, I gotta help Troy with something. I'll be right back. No burning the apartment down, okay?"

He shrugged. "Can't make any promises."

She shot him a stern look before slipping a pair of shoes on and heading out the door. Walking the few steps to his apartment, she knocked twice and Troy answered immediately, as if he'd been waiting by the door. Gabriella entered the house wide-eyed. There were diapers and bottles strewn across the floor, as well as countless toys and baby clothes. The infant was lying on the couch screaming crying and Troy was answered the door helplessly, wearing a burping cloth on his shoulder and had a formula packet in his pocket. The stove was on, most likely boiling water for the bottles, and Troy wasn't tending to it. He looked frantic.

"Look, I know I've been a complete jerk to you and I have no right to ask for your help, but I really need it." He pleaded. "You can leave if you want. I don't blame you. But I can't do this alone."

Gabriella took one look at the situation before hastily making her decision. "Put four ounces of formula into that bottle and place it in the boiling water. You only have to boil it for about five minutes."

Troy sighed in relief and did just that, rushing into the kitchen. Gabriella lifted the baby effortlessly into her arms, rocking him slowly and trying to soothe him. "Shh, Troy won't hurt you. I'm here now and I'll make sure he knows what he's doing."

After the bottle was resting in the hot water, Troy began to pick up the house. "Sorry about the mess. I had to go through everything in the diaper bag to find the formula."

Gabriella laughed. "Don't worry about it. This is what my house looks like everyday."

The apartment was clean again but Mitchell was still wailing. Troy took the water off the stove and brought the bottle into the living room where Gabriella was talking to the baby, trying to placate him. "What do I do now?"

"First test the milk to see if it's too hot. Sprinkle some on your wrist." He did so, and she asked, "Do you think it's a good temperature?"

He nodded and she handed him the child. "Okay. Now you feed him. It's not that hard."

Troy put the bottle into Mitchell's mouth and for a moment, he ceased his bawling. "Oh thank god. I was about to go insane."

"It's not that bad. Trust me, you get used to it." Gabriella commented. "Make sure you support the head. They haven't got any neck strength yet."

"Oh, right." He moved a hand beneath Mitchell's head. "This is my cousin, by the way. My aunt and uncle are visiting for a week. I didn't tell you that in the craziness a few minutes ago."

"Oh," was her simple answer. For some reason, Gabriella felt extremely awkward. They couldn't stand each other. And yet, here they were, talking and making normal conversation like they were the best of friends. She wasn't sure what she was feeling at the moment and neither did he, but they were both sure that the feeling was strong... and it wasn't going away.

"Troy... if I ask you a question, are you going to give me a made-up cynical response or a real answer?"

He glanced down at his cousin before responding with, "Depends on the question."

"Well forgive me for being suspicious, but why did you call me over here tonight? I mean why couldn't you just call your aunt and ask her what to do?"

Troy thought long and hard about his answer. "Because I didn't want to admit to my aunt and uncle that I didn't know what to do. I don't like to be wrong or dependent on people. It's not what I do. And you're so experience with children. Hell, you've got the entire cast of the Brady Bunch in there! So I knew you'd know how to handle a screaming baby."

Gabriella nodded. "That makes sense."

Mitchell sucked the bottle dry before returning to his crying once more. Troy groaned and Gabriella only shook her head, removing the burping cloth from Troy's shoulder and placing it on her own. She hoisted the baby up and began patting his back firmly. He burped a few times and settled down a bit, but tears were still falling from his deep blue eyes. Gabriella then got an idea. It was a trick she'd used when both Alex and Nick were babies and had worked every time. She stood and walked towards the window, rocking him back and forth and beginning to sing.

"_Rock-a-bye baby in the treetop. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall and down will come baby, cradle and all_." She sang softly, smiling as Mitchell began to calm down and his eyes started drooping. "_Baby is drowsing, cozy and fair. Mother sits near in her rocking chair. Forward and back, the cradle she swings. And though baby sleeps, he hears what she sings_."

Troy stared at Gabriella, smiling in awe of her beautiful singing voice as she finished the song. "_From the high rooftops down to the sea. No one's as dear as baby to me. Wee little fingers, eyes shining bright. Now sound asleep, until morning light_."

Mitchell was sound asleep in Gabriella's arms and she set him gently in his infant seat. Troy continued to stare at her and looked at him. "What?"

"Nothing." He replied looking away. "Do you want to stay? I'm sure we have enough food around here for two people."

She glanced at the clock on the wall before shaking her head. "No, I should probably get back. I left my brother at home and who knows what kind of party he's throwing over there."

"Back to the circus." Troy commented sinisterly and Gabriella frowned.

"Sorry we're not perfect, Mr. California." Gabriella sighed, heading to the door and twisting it open.

Before she could leave, Troy called out, "Hey Gabriella?"

She turned around completely, her eyes locking with his. "Yeah?"

He offered her a simple smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She gave him one in return before closing the door behind her.

And it was in that moment that Troy Bolton fell in love with Gabriella Montez.

* * *

**Ha. And if you think it's over, don't even go there. There's a bumpy ride ahead for Troy and Gabriella. Besides, just because Troy loves Gabriella, doesn't necessarily mean she loves him back...**


	7. Hot, Hot, Hot

**This is dedicated as a belated birthday present to dear ol' Tiffany. I love you dearie!!**

**Um yeah. No author's note for this one because I don't want to spoil anything. ;P You'll love it, I promise. Thanks for the reviews! I own nothing and enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Seven: Hot, Hot, Hot

Troy Bolton was avoiding Gabriella Montez.

Gabriella had noticed that he hadn't spoken to her in a few weeks and in one way, she was relieved. But now looking at it from a different perspective, she felt kind of lonely. Of course she still had Chad and Taylor and pretty much the entire student body to talk to. She'd always have them. But losing Troy as an acquaintance gave her a strange feeling. She cautiously made her way down the hallway, scanning the scene and looking for that sandy-haired blue-eyed boy. She'd grown accustomed to having him around. Hell, she might even be starting to like the boy.

No, wait. That can't be.

Gabriella nearly stopped in her tracks when she came to this realization. She didn't like him- why would she? He hated her after all- but for some reason whenever she was around him she always got this fluttering feeling in her stomach. It was a much different feeling than the one she got with Matt. She'd always felt so safe and secure with him and then one day, nothing. Not an ounce of compassion. Troy didn't make her feel safe and secure, he made her feel stupid and challenged. But yet, she relished these feelings. Gabriella had never met anyone before who was as sarcastic and bitter as she was. It made her feel as though she was not alone, which in turn led to the feelings of security.

Oh, she was so confused.

She approached the door to her American Literature class, pushing it open with extreme force and annoyance. Gabriella always became irritable when she was trying to sort out her feelings- it was a trait she'd forever been attributed to. Her teacher Mrs. Whitney, a middle-aged woman whose hair was already graying, was dressed in a brightly colored holiday sweater and Gabriella was once again reminded that Christmas was in two days. Today was their last day of classes before the holiday break, and Gabriella couldn't wait to sleep in and bask in the comfort of no schoolwork. As she took her seat near the window, she watched as Troy came in and sat down just two rows away. He didn't look her way or even acknowledge her presence. What was happening?

"Okay students. You knew it was coming. Today we're going to have a debate on the motives of the famous author James Fenimore Cooper in his novel _The Last of the Mohicans_. Would anyone like to give me a brief overview about what this novel is about?"

No one made a movement. Finally, a girl in the front row answered, "Um, it takes place during the French and Indian War in... 1757 I think, and talks about how the Native Americans were unarmed in a massacre."

"Very good, Jenny. Who would like to add to that?" Mrs. Whitney smiled, glancing around the room. "Oh come on, this is the easiest question of the day."

"Well two girls get kidnapped and then get rescued by the last of the Indians to survive." A guy in the back row sighed. "It's really boring."

"Steve, this is a classic literary piece done by one of the most famous authors of the early nineteenth century," Mrs. Whitney scolded. "It is far from boring. Now let's see... ah, Gabriella. Would you mind telling me the motives of this book?"

Gabriella looked up. "The motives?"

"Yes. What was James Fenimore Cooper's purpose for writing such an intriguing novel?"

And how was she supposed to know that? She hadn't lived in pre-Revolutionary times. She cleared her throat. "Um, well... I guess he wanted to inform the American public of the suffering the Native Americans were going through because of the war."

Mrs. Whitney crossed her arms and gave her a remarkable glance. "Interesting, why would you say so?"

Gabriella shrugged. She was clearly taking a shot in the dark. "Well the Americans took land from the Natives who'd been there all along, and now were waging war against another group who fought to take control. I think it shows that through the title as well, _The Last of the Mohicans_. It's like stating that it's an end of their tribe because the Americans want to expand their country."

Mrs. Whitney only nodded, and clearly this wasn't the correct answer. Troy smirked and raised his hand. "Yes Troy?"

"I don't think that's why he wrote it at all, actually."

Gabriella's eyes darted towards Troy, who was practically laughing in her face.

"Really?" Their teacher grinned. She loved debate. "And what do you believe was his aim?"

"The people of that time period believed that Americans were born with guns in their hand and were always powerful. But James Fenimore Cooper was really trying to show them the possibility and destiny of America's republican experiment, since government was so hazy back then. He contrasted the rugged natives with the artificially modern civilization. Well, that's what I think, anyway."

Gabriella felt ridiculously stupid. A few of the people in the class nodded in agreement with Troy's answer and Mrs. Whitney nearly applauded. "What an insightful response! That's exactly why he wrote this novel! How did you come to this conclusion Troy?"

Troy glanced at Gabriella as he answered. "Oh, I thought it was obvious."

Gabriella tried in vain to make it seem as though his making her look bad didn't affect her in any way. When she finally left class, she confronted Troy when he exited the classroom. "Why the hell did you do that to me?"

He only laughed. "Do what? I was answering the question!"

"You could've answered it without making me look bad!"

"I didn't have to make you look bad, Gabriella. You do that all by yourself."

She gasped. "You're an asshole."

"And you're a bitch. Are we done name-calling now?" Troy asked, trying to sidestep her.

Gabriella stopped him. "No, we're not done. I thought you'd given up on me, finally, and then you come in here and call me out on everything I say that's wrong. I don't-"

"Gabriella," He silenced her. "I never give up. I will pester you until the day we graduate. So you can get over yourself now."

"You know what? No wonder no one likes you!" Gabriella practically screamed at him. "You're an obstinate arrogant jerk that no one can stand being around. Because who wants to be friends with someone who thinks they're better than everyone else?"

"Been studying the dictionary again, haven't we Montez?" He pushed her up against the locker and held her there by her shoulders. "And you know what? I think _you_ do. Why else would have been fighting this battle so long?"

She was pinned against the locker and the metal was digging into her back. She was attracting odd stares from passing students and she rolled her eyes, struggling to get free. "Maybe I can't find a way out."

"Maybe you don't want to."

Gabriella glanced at him. "And what do you mean by that?"

Troy shrugged. "I don't have complete control of this situation, do I?"

"Oh I think you do. You think you do, too."

He laughed. "I think no such thing, Montez."

The hallways emptied out and the bell rang, signaling sixth period's beginning. Troy released his hold on the girl and began to walk away. She stood confused behind. "So that's it? That's how this is going to end?"

Troy laughed again, but didn't turn around. "It's far from over, Gabriella. Get to class."

* * *

"Taylor, what's wrong with me?"

Gabriella sat down next to her best friend at lunch that same day with a very important question. Taylor glanced at her in confusion.

"Gabriella, there's nothing wrong with you. What are you talking about?"

"No Taylor, there has to be something. Is it my hair? Do I have split ends?" Gabriella asked, examining the ends of a few strands of hair. "Maybe it's my clothes. Do I dress like a slut? Like a hippie? How about a bohemian?"

Taylor just stared at her friend as if she'd gone mad. "What are you-?"

It wasn't long before Gabriella had rambled off another slew of questions. "Is my nose too big for my face? What about my eyes? Are they too small? Too close together? Too... brown?"

"Gabriella, stop!" Taylor finally shrieked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Troy has to hate me for some reason. I can't figure out why."

Taylor raised an eyebrow. "Besides the fact that he's challenged by you? You know I already told you that."

"Yeah I know. He's annoyed that there's actually someone out there that's as smart as him. I get it." She sighed. "But that can't be it. There has to be something else."

"I doubt it. There isn't anything wrong with you."

"I'm so frustrated! He thinks he knows everything! Today in American Lit, he made me look like an idiot in front of the entire class! Okay, so what, I got the answer wrong. But he didn't have to point it out to the whole class!"

"Why not?" A male voice called from behind. "That made it all the more fun."

Taylor spoke up. "Because you're making her life miserable, that's why. And a miserable Gabriella isn't very fun to deal with."

"Hey!"

"Just saying!"

Troy smiled wryly. "Well anyway, I just wanted to ask if you were willing to come over for a little while tonight. My parents are going to some party and I have something for you. You in?"

"You have something for me?" She looked at him skeptically, then groaned. "Oh no, what did you steal from me?"

He chuckled. "You'll have to come over to find out. See you tonight?"

"Yeah, fine. Whatever."

Troy walked to his table and sat down and Taylor gave her a displeasured look. Gabriella only shrugged. "I can't help it."

"More like you can't say no."

Later that evening, Gabriella made her way cautiously to Troy's apartment. He had asked her to come over while his parents were at a Christmas party, which worried her because his parents weren't home, and who knows what kind of trouble he'd get up to. Something had been odd about him lately. He acted very wary around her and she wondered if he was really going to leave her alone. In a way, she would be pleased if he left her alone for once. But still... she kind of liked the attention. She hadn't gotten any since... well, she didn't want to go there.

She didn't even have to knock as the door opened as soon as she approached it. Troy smiled nervously at her and stepped aside, letting her walk into the apartment. She looked at him distrustfully and he didn't dare look at her, for fear of losing his composure right then and there. He kept his cool and their eyes met, dangerous sparks emitting from their gaze. Gabriella was feeling so helplessly attracted to his simplicity that she had to look away. He cleared his throat before speaking up.

"This is going to be weird, I know, but..." Troy handed her a small gift. "I got you something."

Gabriella glanced at the object. "You got me a present?"

"People get people presents on Christmas, Gabriella." Troy explained, waving the box in her direction. "And then you take it and open it."

She scoffed at him before snatching it from his hands. "What is it?"

"You have to open it now, smartie." He joked and she glared at him.

Gabriella unwrapped the present to find a square velvet box. The cover read _Zion Jewelers_, and without even opening the box she knew what was inside. Her breath caught in her throat and tears came to her eyes. She'd wanted this bracelet for months and had been saving up for it on her minimum wage salary and birthday and holiday money. It was three hundred, _three hundred_, dollars and here it was lying in the palms of her hands. Gabriella looked up at him again.

"What is this? Why did you get me this?" She questioned him softly in wonder.

Troy shrugged. "You wanted it, didn't you?"

She managed a simple nod. "Yeah but... you didn't have to do this. You didn't have to get this for me."

"Gabriella, I know how much you wanted it and you didn't have the money for it."

"And you did?"

He shrugged again. "Yeah, I guess so."

Gabriella was speechless. After a moment, she uttered, "No one's ever gotten me something this special before."

Troy stepped closer to her and she glanced up at him. "Thank you. I love it."

"I'm glad."

They were locked in a lust-filled gaze before the force was too powerful for them to ignore and they fell into a deep zealous kiss. Both cursed themselves for falling so hard and so easily, but it was just too tempting. Her arms were around his neck and his down around her waist as they embraced fervently to the falling snow outside. His lips were massaging hers gently as he walked her backwards towards the far door along the outside of the wall. Troy broke the kiss briefly to open his bedroom door, drag Gabriella through, and slam it behind them.

What started out as gentle and soft kisses turned more passionate and fiery as they approached his bedroom door. Troy pressed Gabriella fervently against the door, their hands wandering all over each other. He ran his hands ran up and down her sides as he kissed her urgently, barely breaking contact to breathe. She moaned softly as he kissed a sensitive spot on the curve of her neck. Their kisses were hot and passionate, the blazing inferno that instigated all of their arguments returning to create an entire new fountain of excitement.

Troy broke apart from the kiss, only to stare her directly in the eye as she struggled to catch her breath. He kissed her collarbone up to her neck, and then placed feather light kisses along her jaw line, before finding her lips and capturing them once more. Her hands, which were tangled in his hair, fell to his neck, and then dragged very slowly down to his stomach, which she wanted to unveil. Their shoes had long since been discarded and Gabriella was working on getting that shirt off of his torso. She succeeded. When she all had been removed, his muscles rippled at her touch, showing off the many years of weightlifting and surfing.

Gabriella dragged her fingers up and down the muscles upon his stomach before loosening his pants and watching them drop to the floor. He kicked them away as he slipped her sweater off of her body, and moved his hands lower to the waist of her jeans. In no time, they joined the rest of the clothing on the floor, ultimately forgotten. He moved away from her mouth to place kisses down her neck to her collarbone. Troy glanced at his bed and then at Gabriella and she giggled softly.

"I think it's kind of inevitable."

He nodded and scooped her up into his arms, placing her gently upon the bed. Troy lowered himself onto her and completely took in all that was Gabriella. Their kisses were searing and sultry; amounting to more than the soft moans they'd started out with.

Frozen was the air outside. Scorching hot were Troy and Gabriella.


	8. If You Were Me and I Was You

**Why hello there! I haven't been on FanFiction in so long, the entire site has changed. Yippee. Anyways, I'm extremely busy with my junior-year life. So I'm really really realllllllly sorry that I'm such a late updater. Forgive me, please?? Thank you for all the reviews for the last chapter. They made me grin. And I know some of you think what happened last chapter was going too fast, but oh don't worry. We have much more to the plotline than meets the eye. Troy and Gabriella's story is far from over.**

**I own nothing. WOOHOO! Oh, and before I get this question, yes, I did name Gabriella's newest sister after Leah Hope Gosselin. Jon and Kate Plus 8 is an amazing show, and I love Leah!!**

* * *

Chapter Eight: If You Were Me and I Was You

_Oh God, we did not just do that..._

Gabriella woke with a start at the sound of a door closing and yawned. It was dark in this foreign room and she wasn't sure where she was. Glancing around at the various surfing posters and California decals, she frowned as she remembered she was lying beside her sworn enemy. Turning her head slightly and meeting the sleeping features of Troy Bolton, all of the last night's previous activities caught up with her. They were so raw and passionate with each other and Gabriella- though she hated to admit it- loved every second of it.

She was sweaty and naked, she realized, and sat up, searching in the dark for her clothing. It was scattered all over the room and she found she'd have no success looking for it in the dark. Troy had really thick curtains on his bedroom window and balcony doors. Gabriella took a glimpse at the clock and noted that it was nearing ten o' clock in the morning. They had been lying in that very position for nearly ten hours. She needed to go home. But as she made a move towards the curtains to shine some light into the bedroom, movement was heard from the bed.

"Don't you dare open that curtain, Montez."

She frowned again. "But I can't find my clothes."

Troy shrugged. "You don't need them."

Gabriella crossed her arms. "Yes I do. I have to go home."

He sat up, the bed sheet falling just below his chest. "We're not even going to discuss what happened last night?"

She'd found her underwear and jeans and slid them on. "There's not much to discuss."

Troy sighed. "Right, because I usually go around having sex with my enemies on a regular basis."

Clasping her bra, Gabriella glanced at him. "It was a heat of the moment thing. We just got caught up in the lust of the holiday season."

He began getting dressed himself, getting angrier and angrier by the second at the way she was handling their situation. "Gabriella, you don't seem like the kind of person who would get 'caught up in the moment'."

Ignoring his comment, she stopped at his bedroom door. "Your parents aren't out there, are they?"

Troy groaned and threw his door open, surprised at the silence. He noticed a note upon the refrigerator that read, _Out doing some last minute shopping. Didn't want to wake you. There're donuts on the counter. Love, Mom and Dad_. "They're not here."

"Good," She slipped her shoes on and turned to face him. "Well... thanks for letting me stay here last night."

His arms were folded and he stared at her with immense hatred in his eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Nothing. I don't see what you're so mad about."

"How can you not see it?" He yelled. "We had sex last night, Gabriella! Sex! How many times do I have to say this before you want to talk about it?"

"Troy, I don't want to talk about it at all!" She shouted back at him. "Ever! You may have enjoyed it, but maybe I didn't even want it to happen."

"Oh please," Troy commented disbelievingly. "You didn't stop me!"

"We had sex. Okay, I get that. I don't want to remember it. I'm going to force it away in my mind and we're not going to talk about this incident again, okay? You and I should _never_ have clashed like that. It was not supposed to happen!"

"But it did!" He counteracted. "And you can't just forget that! As much as you want to and as much as you convince yourself that it didn't mean anything, you and I both know that it did!"

"You don't understand..." She muttered and he groaned.

"No, of course not. Why don't you explain it to me then? Fill me in, oh wise one!"

"Being with you last night scared the hell out of me, Troy!" Gabriella admitted. "You're always so cynical and so sarcastic whenever I'm around and you tease and taunt me nonstop. You're always such a jerk to everyone and you piss me off like no one's ever gotten to me before. But last night... everything was so different. And I can't deal with that right now because I've been through that before. I don't want to get hurt again! I don't want you to turn out like-!" She stopped herself and backed down slightly as she watched his expression change. She turned away from him quickly as he put two and two together.

"You don't want me to turn out like who?"

"No one."

"Like Matt?"

Gabriella whipped around to face him, and in a low tone she uttered, "How do you know about Matt?"

Before either of them could respond, Gabriella's cell phone vibrated in her pocket and she answered immediately. "Hello?"

"_Way to completely ignore all of my calls, loser_," Nick said. "_Where have you been? Mom and Dad were freaking out_."

"Oh... I stayed over at a friend's house." She answered, not looking at Troy. "What's up?"

"_Well I've been calling you for hours. Mom's in the process of having the baby and you need to get down here_."

"Oh my god, are you serious? Okay, I'm on my way. Are you in the waiting room of the maternity ward? Should I just meet you there?"

"_Yeah. Dad's in the room with Mom but the rest of us are all just sitting around. It's really boring. We've been sitting here since six o' clock this morning._"

"Okay, I'll be there soon. Bye Nick." Hanging up her cell phone and shooting Troy a look of hate, she uttered a simple, "Goodbye."

Heading for the door, she ignored as he called after her. "Gabriella, why can't you just tell me what happened? I don't think we have any secrets anymore."

His comment was sarcastic and hurtful and Gabriella felt as though she could cry. Still, she managed an effortless, "Because I hate you," and headed down the hallway, slamming the door behind her.

Troy had mixed emotions as he watched Gabriella leave. But his heart broke into a million pieces as he noticed the small _Zion Jewelers_ box lying on the table by the door...

* * *

"Gabriella Anne Montez where the hell have you been?" Maria screeched the second her oldest child entered the room.

"You just had a baby, Mom. You'd think you wouldn't have the energy to scream at me." Gabriella replied tiredly.

"Oh don't you worry, missy, I will _always_ have energy to scold my seven children." She sighed. "Would you like to tell me where you were or do I have to pry it out of you?"

Gabriella shook her head and instead asked, "Where's Dad?"

"He took the others to see your new sister," Maria explained. "They just took her to the nursery."

"What'd you name her?"

"Leah," Her face glowed as she said the name. "Leah Hope Montez. She's beautiful. But really tiny. You should see how adorable she is."

Gabriella smiled. "I bet she is, Mom."

Maria only grinned back at her, smoothing out the blanket on her lap. "You stayed at Troy's last night, didn't you?"

Her eyes widened. "How did you-"

"Your brother. Nick knows things."

"That little bas-"

"Gabriella," Maria stopped her before she could finish the word. "Don't. You like this boy now? I thought you hated him."

"I still do. Nothing's changed there."

"You had sex with him, didn't you?"

"Mom!" Gabriella squealed. "Are you psychic or something?!?"

"I'm a Mom, honey. If I couldn't read your facial expressions you would get away with everything you tried to pull on me." Maria explained. "I'm not mad. If you weren't having sex by now, I'd be worried."

"Okay, please stop tha-"

"And I'm guessing you had a fight. So talk to me, honey. That's what I'm here for."

Gabriella was silent for a long time. She stared at the white tiled floor beneath her mother's hospital bed. She glanced out the window at a man and his young daughter skipping up the sidewalk to the main entrance of the hospital. She finally looked up again to meet her mother's eyes and sighed. She didn't want to tell her mother, but she didn't want to tell Taylor or anyone else either. She saw her mother as a fountain of wisdom and the lesser of two evils. So, swallowing her pride, she began her story and admitted to herself, finally, what was holding her back from falling in love with Troy Bolton.

"I'm just... afraid of getting hurt again."

Maria smiled sympathetically at her daughter and took her hand in her own. "Oh sweetie, I know. I know how hard it is to get over your first love-"

"I did _not_ love Matt." Gabriella was quick to defend.

"Yes you did," Maria contradicted. "We all know you did. And we loved Matt too. I understand what you two went through was extremely tough and it didn't work out in the end, but you have to be able to learn from that experience and let other people in."

"Mom, I can't. He broke my heart." Gabriella sighed. "It was so hard to get over that... and maybe I never did."

"Maybe you didn't. But put yourself in Troy's position. Can't you see how you're hurting him by leading him on and then turning him away?"

She thought this over and sunk her head into her hands. "Ugh. This is so complicated."

"You just need to forget Matt ever happened. I know that it's going to be hard, but you need to try. Because, if you were Troy, would you like to be treated the way you're treating him?"

Gabriella shook her head dejectedly and the rest of her family entered the room at that moment. Richard Montez beamed at his oldest daughter. "Gabriella! You're finally here! Come with me, I'll show you your baby sister."

"Okay Dad."

She took another glance at her mother who nodded and shot her the, 'Remember what we talked about' look. Nodding as well, Gabriella shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket and followed her father down the halls of the maternity ward. They passed the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit- the NICU- where the babies born prematurely or born sick were taken care of. It looked so grim in that room, Gabriella thought, as she passed it. They finally reached the newborn care nursery and Richard held open the door for his daughter.

"Normally we're not supposed to be in here," He explained to his daughter. "But since your Mom and I have been here so many times, we're an exception. We've made friends here."

"Ah. I see. Dad, can you promise me something?"

"What's that?"

"Please let this be your last child. _Please_."

Richard laughed. "She is, Gabby, she is. Don't worry. We're done."

"Thank you."

Richard waved to a few of the nurses before walking down the row of glass incubators. He stopped at the end and cradled a tiny bundle of pink in his arms. "Gabriella, this is your sister, Leah Hope. Leah honey, meet your oldest sister."

Gabriella took her sister into her arms and looked down at this wonderful little girl. She was _tiny_; her five little fingers on her left hand curled around one finger of Gabriella's. Her bright blue eyes- she'd inherited from her father- bore into Gabriella's and she emitted a tiny sigh. Gabriella grinned and lifted her sister up so she could kiss her forehead softly. Leah looked at her sister in wonder and blinked slowly. And then something magical happened.

She smiled for the first time. She smiled for Gabriella.

* * *

"Troy, have you been lying there all day?"

Troy didn't respond. He was sprawled out on the couch, the back of his hands covering his closed eyes, and breathing slowly. Jack and Kathryn glanced at their son and then at each other, trying to piece together what could've happened that made him so upset. Kathryn elbowed her husband, in a gesture to get him to talk to Troy and Jack nodded, sitting at his son's feet and nudging his leg as Kathryn left the room, giving the guys privacy to talk.

"Troy, are you alright?"

He groaned. "Yeah. Just fine."

"What happened? Bad party last night?"

Troy smirked, forgetting he'd told his parents he was going to Chad's for a Christmas party and wouldn't be back until late when really he'd spent his time with Gabriella. "Nah. Just had a bad time. Can I... talk to you about something?"

"Of course. That's why I'm here. Go for it."

"There's this girl I go to school with. I couldn't stand her when we first moved here. She's smart and sarcastic and incredibly scheming."

"Sounds like you." Jack commented, a sly smile on his face.

"I know!" Troy sat up. "That's the thing. I couldn't stand her because she reminded me of myself. I wanted to be the one, you know? I'd never met anyone as sarcastic as me before, and I know it's not exactly a winning trait, but whatever. So then I started to..."

"Like her?"

"Yes! I started realizing how she wasn't always so sarcastic and that she's really _really_ pretty... and she's brilliant. Not like any of the other girls I've ever dated. Did you know Lindsey thought New Mexico had its own language?"

Jack chuckled. "She never was very bright."

"Exactly. But Gabriella- that's her name, by the way- everything is different. Chad said something happened between her and a past boyfriend and now she's really bitter and doesn't want to date again. But I can't help but want her to get over it, you know? I want her to tell me what's wrong so she can finally get it off her chest."

"Do you want to ask her out?"

"Well... kind of. I don't know. What do I do?"

"Troy," Jack shook his head. "Put yourself in her shoes. She must've gotten out of a pretty bad situation with her past boyfriend if she's still reeling from it. Would you want to run into things after something like that?"

"No."

"Right. Give her some time. She'll come around soon enough. You can't rush her feelings, Troy."

Jack stood and walked into the kitchen, leaving Troy to come to terms with what he had to do.

He had to give her space.

**

* * *

Hahah uh-oh. Gabriella's been told to move on and let Troy in, but Troy's been told to let Gabriella have some space. Thus, confusion and drama set in. Oh joy!!**


	9. Hot and Cold

**Well then. If you're reading "Summer Nights" then you've already gotten an apology. But if not, I'm going to give you one anyway. So, I'm extremely sorry for the lack of updates on my part over last month and week. I know, it's been that long. I feel terrible and I know what it's like to be the one saying, "Oh my god, what's wrong with you? Update you're freaking story!!" So I know what some of you must've gone through, lol. I live in a town in New York and for the past four days we've been living without electricity because we had this really bad ice storm. It was kind of cool, don't get me wrong, to get out of school and driver's education because of this, but it wasn't cool to live by candelight and flashlights at night. Or take cold showers. Or freeze to death in my 48 degree household. Anyway, we got our power back late this afternoon, so no worries. I have not turned into the abominable snowman. Lol.**

**Enjoy. And like in "Summer Nights" I will again wish a Happy 20th Birthday to Vanessa Hudgens. Yay!**

**I own squat.  
**

* * *

Chapter Nine: Hot and Cold

The last five weeks had been nothing but confusion for Troy and Gabriella.

The first week they had avoided each other. Troy wanted to give Gabriella space as his father told him to and Gabriella didn't want to come in contact with another argument and forceful thinking again. At first it had been a relief. He wasn't pestering her. He wasn't teasing her and she was enjoying it. But as the week progressed, she missed the attention. She wasn't getting attention at school because he had left her alone. She wasn't getting it at home because of the new baby and even though her relatives were in town, they weren't paying attention to her. They had all come for Leah, and Gabriella and her other siblings were already forgotten.

The second week they were back to normal. He was taunting her just as much, if not more, than he was before, and she was even more pissed off than usual. Leah had colic, and left the entire household up all night trying to soothe her cries. Gabriella rolled into school that entire week, exhausted and emotional, and the slightest thing made her crack. She spent five minutes yelling at Troy because of something stupid he'd said, and then her entire free period crying in the bathroom because of it. She wasn't like this. She didn't crack that easily. Gabriella cursed the birth of her sister, but then took it all back.

The third week East High was out of school for Regents and midterms, and Gabriella was stuck at home with her mother and baby sister the whole time. Troy and his parents had gone back to California for the week to visit friends and relatives, taking advantage of the time off. Gabriella was missing him. She tried not to acknowledge the feeling as it crept inside her body, but she couldn't deny it. She missed him. That was when she first realized the feeling between them. She understood why he wanted to talk about their 'moment' and why he wanted to know about Matt. He had feelings for her. And it was hard for her to deny that she had those same feelings too.

The fourth week was much warmer than the previous one. They gradually grew close to one another, laughing and joking and experiencing things they hadn't before. Gabriella learned Troy was an avid prankster and enjoyed the classic joke he pulled on their English teacher to get the two of them out of class. They spent the rest of the time in each other's company in the back of the school, talking and expressing themselves in ways they thought they couldn't anymore. Troy had learned that Gabriella was much more than she led on. She had true emotions and feelings he didn't even believe one could feel. He felt her pain, her excitement, her passion as she expressed everything to him. They made a solemn promise to keep that conversation between themselves and sealed it with a hug.

The fifth week came and nothing was the same. Like the flip of a switch, Troy and Gabriella's attitudes towards each other had completely changed. Their glares said it all. They were cold and spiteful again, laughing at each other's troubles and getting joy out of the downfalls. Both were confused as to why the other was acting such a way but couldn't help but join in. They didn't exchange one nice word the entire week and if looks could kill, neither of them would have survived.

An early Monday in the middle of February would mark the beginning of the sixth week, and Gabriella cautiously walked down the hallway, so desperately anxious to end school. A severe case of "senior-itis" was developing within her, and she couldn't help but stare out the window in each of her classes. She wanted it all to be over. She wanted to move far, far away from her family and go to school at a party college on the East Coast. Most of all, she wanted to be rid of Wildcat spirit and Troy Bolton. Speaking of the devil, he spotted her and grinned fiendishly, hurrying up to her and leaning against the locker beside hers.

"Are you sure you don't need your history book today?" He asked, trying to mess with her.

She frowned. "No. I'm going to Math. I don't think I need historical characters in the world of numbers, okay?"

"What about..." Troy reached in and picked out a random item. "This? Will you be needing this on today's journey towards graduation?"

"No, that's my cap and gown order receipt." She sighed. "Why are you talking like Shakespeare?"

"No," He corrected. "Shakespeare speaks with a bunch of –iths and anon's. I'm just talking like any normal teenage boy would."

"No you're not. But you're certainly annoying. What has gotten into you?"

Troy dropped the act. "Will you skip school with me today?"

"What?" Gabriella had a mini panic attack. She'd never skipped a day in her life, and used to complain when she was ill and couldn't attend school. "We can't skip school, we're already here!"

"But we haven't been to any classes yet," Troy reasoned. "Besides, no one's actually guarding the doors, much less paying attention to passing students. So we really could just walk out the door and no one would know."

"You're crazy." She shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Why? Do you not trust me?" He teased. "Am I not worthy of your trust?"

"No, I trust you, it's just that-" She bit her lip. It certainly couldn't be a good thing that she had just admitted that she trusted him.

He grinned. "Come on. You know you need a break. You know you want to leave. Just do it."

"I can't do it. And I _don't_ want to, thank you very much."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

She did. Truly she did. But could she let him win again? Sighing, opened her locker that she had just recently closed. "I do need a break..."

"Yes you do..."

"And leaving would be pretty satisfying..."

"Yes it would..."

"Fine, I'll go." Gabriella gave in. "Why not? What harm could it possibly do?"

"Exactly." Troy chuckled, holding open the door for her as they made it to the end of the hall.

Gabriella glanced around, checking for hall monitors and Troy snorted. "Have you ever done this before?"

She glared at him. "For your information, _no_. I haven't."

His eyes widened as he followed her out the door. "Really? Why not?"

"Because... I was afraid... that..." She struggled to come up with a good excuse, but he saw right through her.

"You're too good of a student to do that, right? You didn't want to get caught?"

Gabriella gasped and said, though unconvincingly, "No, I... don't care about school."

"Don't give me that," He laughed. "You're a genius. Everyone knows it, even if you don't want them to."

"I just don't want to be the school's suck-up, okay?"

"I get it."

"You're smart too!" Gabriella accused. "What about that?"

"I don't have straight-A's. In every subject."

She gasped again, this time in horror. "You read my transcript?"

Troy laughed whole-heartedly at her reaction. "No. I just guessed. But now I know you do have straight-A's. In every subject."

Humiliated, Gabriella sunk down in the seat of his car. "I'm not going with you."

Troy started the engine. "Yes you are. We already snuck out. You can't sneak back in. What do you think that'll look like?"

She groaned. "Whatever. Just drive."

"Where to?"

He was leaving it up to her. And she grinned finally. "I know a place."

* * *

"Are you kidding me? I'm not getting that!"

Gabriella laughed hysterically at Troy's reaction as they stood in line at the smoothie bar. She told him exactly where to go, and upon arrival he'd looked skeptical. But as of right now, he was flat-out denying acquiring a smoothie. She was planning on getting a mixed berry smoothie, her favorite, and told Troy to get his all-time favorite- strawberry-kiwi-banana. But Troy was being stubborn. He didn't want to try this 'traitor' of a beverage and was protesting her attempts.

"Just get it, my god!" She sighed, a smile still evident on her face. "It's not that bad, trust me."

"Trust you? Trust _you_?" Troy glanced at her in horror. "You've never tasted a strawberry-kiwi-banana smoothie from the Slammin' Smoothie Shop in So Cal, okay? You haven't _tasted_ a smoothie until you've had one from there."

She laughed again. "You are not an expert on smoothies, Troy. Just get the damn thing before I get it for you!"

"You don't understand!" He shook his head. "This one is like... an imposter! A fake! A phony! A knock-off! It's not authentic, okay? It's not the same!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes and they stepped up to the counter. She ordered her smoothie and paid while she waited for them to make it. Troy, however, was silent. After a while, she shot him a pointed look and elbowed him in the stomach. He finally gave in and bought the smoothie, but only because of her. There was no way he would've gotten it on his own. Besides, if he died because of this gross imposter-smoothie, then it would all be on her conscience.

They sat at an outdoor table nearby the entrance of the store, and while Gabriella was sipping her thick drink, Troy was eyeing his as if it was poison. She giggled. "Just drink it. Don't be such a baby."

"Alright, alright!" He brought the straw cautiously to his lips and took a drink. She watched, awaiting his reaction. "It's..."

"Delicious?"

"No."

"Fantastic?"

"No."

"At least remotely edible?"

Troy took another taste. "Yeah. It's good."

"See!" She exclaimed. "I told you!"

"Yeah, yeah," He didn't want to admit it, but it was slightly better than the one back in California. Slightly. "You win."

"Wait, what?" Gabriella asked, shocked. "Repeat that one more time, please?"

"You win."

"Come again?"

"You win!"

"Finally!" She shrieked in excitement. "I never seem to win at anything. Especially between the two of us."

A silence fell over them, until Troy cleared his throat and reached into his pocket. "I think you forgot something when you left my house... on Christmas."

"Like what?" She asked, oblivious. Her heart nearly stopped when he presented her with the Zion Jewelers box and slid it towards her.

"Found that on the table," He stated simply, drinking his smoothie quietly again.

"Oh Troy," Gabriella said with a sigh. "I don't know what to say. I'm sorry. A million times over. I really do love it. I do. Don't ever think that I don't."

Troy nodded and opened the box, taking the bracelet out of the protective holding and clasping it around her small wrist. "I believe you."

She watched it glimmer in the sunlight and smiled softly. "It's beautiful. It really is."

Blinded only by her, he responded. "Yeah. It is."

He leaned forward and captured her lips in a pure and desire-filled kiss. His arms were down low around her waist and hers somehow found his hair, entangling them in the brown mess, her eyes closing. They stayed in that embrace a long time, barely breaking contact to breathe and neither of them understanding how strange their relationship was with each other. One minute, they were getting along. The next, they were arguing. Then, they were kissing. Gabriella smiled faintly as she tasted the strawberry-kiwi-banana taste on his lips, and pulled away slowly, looking down at their hands, which were now entwined.

"I don't get it," She said finally in a quiet tone.

"What?" He asked, a questioning look in his piercing blue eyes.

"I just don't understand us." Gabriella admitted. "We get along, we don't get along. We're fighting, we're kissing. We're pissed off, we're happy. We can't stand each other, we can't get enough of each other. Don't you see it?"

Troy looked at her. "I do. I guess... I've never been in a real relationship before. I've never met anyone that's so like me. You scared the shit out of me, Gabriella. You are just as sarcastic as me and have the same tone and thoughts and feelings... all that. I just feel like when we're together it's like a battle of wits."

"We're not in a relationship, though," She felt the need to point out, her mind sticking on the one piece of information.

"I can't tell if you want to be or not," He disclosed. "You lead me on and then... I don't know. I know you don't want to talk about it, but it was like Christmas Eve. We spent that entire night together and then there was no contact."

"You could've called too, you know." She sighed. "It takes two to make a relationship work."

"Like you said, we're not in a relationship." Troy said. "Do you want one, Gabriella? Because my senses tell me you do."

"I do," She nodded earnestly. "I really do. But..."

"But," He picked up for her. "If it's going to be with me, I need to know what happened between you and Matt."

Gabriella's eyes widened in terror and she stood firmly. "I have to go."

"Where are you going? I drove you here?"

"It's not that far from the apartments."

Little did Gabriella know, the same question plagued his mind as well. Troy couldn't understand why their relationship always had to be hot or cold either...


	10. Closure

**Hey there! Thank you for the reviews, and enjoy this chapter!! Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah... well, late anyway. :D**

**I own nothing. Do enjoy!**

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Chapter Ten: Closure

"Gabriella!" Miranda skipped happily into her bedroom, holding the telephone in her right hand. "The phone's for you!"

Gabriella looked up from her English novel and sat up on her bed. "Who is it?"

The girl shrugged. "I don't know, I didn't ask. He just said he wanted to talk to you."

_He? It's probably Troy_, Gabriella thought as she placed a bookmark in _Jane Eyre_ and took the phone from her sister. It was an unusually warm Saturday in mid-March, and Gabriella had been reading for her assignment due Monday. The call had arrived just as she had almost finished it and had Gabriella dreading every minute of it. She and Troy were back in their 'avoiding each other' stage. She hadn't spoken to him since that day back in February when they went for smoothies. The only way they were connected was through the diamond bracelet that never left her wrist.

"Hello?"

"_Gabriella? It's Matt. How are you?_"

Gabriella nearly dropped the phone. "... H-Hi."

"_I know this is kind of... weird. Especially considering what went on this summer, but-_"

"Why are you calling me?" She asked him bravely, afraid of the answer, but still wanting to know.

"_Oh, you know. I was just checking in. How's East High? I kind of miss it. It's great being on my own, though. So much freedom and-_"

"Why are you checking on me?" Her voice quavered, but she cleared her throat to stay strong. "Why do you care?"

Matt cleared his throat as well. "_Well, I... I miss you, Gabby._"

"You miss me?" Gabriella questioned skeptically. "You miss me?!?"

"_Why wouldn't I? I loved you... we were in love, Gabriella. And I'm not exactly close, so-_"

"Matt, that's not the point!" She yelled at him. "You broke up with me!"

At this point, McKenzie and Miranda were standing quietly at the doorway. Any other time, Gabriella would've yelled for them to go away. But today, she beckoned for them to come closer. They sat on each side of her as the conversation went on. "_Look, I know I did, but you have to understand-_"

"Oh I understand," She laughed coldly. "I understand perfectly, trust me. You have _no_ right to call me saying you miss me! Matthew Rostrum, you broke my heart! Do you understand that? I couldn't care less that you miss me. You know how long I spent pining over you? Complaining and crying? You ruined my summer!"

"_I know, and I'm sorry_. _I love you now, and I realize that_."

"Well you're too little, too late." She said quietly. "Nothing you could possibly say would make me give you a second chance."

There was silence on the other end until Matt finally spoke. "_I still love you, Gabriella_."

"Yeah? I still loved you when you broke up with me. It took months for me to get over you." She stated softly and then came upon a dawning realization. "Maybe I never really did."

"_But you_-"

Gabriella shook her head. "Go break someone else's heart. Mine's too fragile to take another beating from you."

With that, she hung up the phone and hugged her sisters close to her. McKenzie was the first to speak. "Are you okay, Gabby?"

Her older sister nodded. "I'll be okay. Eventually. Thank you, girls, for being here, though. You know I love you both, right?"

Miranda nodded. "We love you too."

After a brief conversation with her sisters, Gabriella stood. "I have to go see... someone."

McKenzie rolled her eyes. "Troy?"

She stopped in her tracks. "How did you know?"

"We're eleven, we're not stupid!" Miranda answered in a 'duh' tone.

Gabriella only shrugged and left her bedroom, bidding a quick farewell to those inhabiting her home. She exited the apartment, walked up to Troy's front door and hesitated. Were his parents home? It was a Saturday, no doubt they were. She didn't want to have this entire conversation with Troy in the presence of adults, much less his parents, so she hoped they were out. Would he push her away? She hoped not. He wanted to know what had happened between her and Matt, hadn't he? Wasn't that the reason he didn't want to rush into things with her? She took a deep breath and knocked twice on his door.

Troy answered the door in a t-shirt and ripped jeans, a turkey sandwich in hand. He swallowed the bite that was in his mouth and stared at her questionably. He looked so confused by her presence, but gestured for her to come in anyway. His parents were home, but outside on the balcony, enjoying the fresh air of the day. She entered the apartment cautiously and nervously, his being there just making her eyes water. Gabriella knew Troy didn't like it when girls cried, but if he thought she'd make it through her entire story without a tear shed, he was sadly mistaking.

"Uh, hi." Troy greeted her, placing his sandwich on a plate on the coffee table and motioning for her to sit down on the couch beside him. "What's up?"

She sat. "Matt just called me."

He was silent, searching her features for weakness and seeing it all over. "Are... you okay?"

"I figured it was about time I told you what happened between us." Her voice was strong and even, and she ignored his question. "You deserve to know."

"Okay. Are you sure you want to tell me this? I didn't make you tell me, did I?" He wanted to know he hadn't pressured her.

But again she ignored his question. "Matt Rostrum and I have known each other for a long time. He's a year older than me, but his Dad and mine used to work together, so we would go to work parties for them and play together. In middle school I realized I had a crush on him, and in the middle of my sophomore year in high school, he asked me out."

Troy nodded as she went on. "We went out for a year and a half. I loved him and he loved me. But notice the past tense of those words. I always felt safe and secure when I was with him. He made me feel protected and beautiful and loved... I couldn't help but worship the ground he walked on. Plus, he was my first so he'll always be special in that respect." Blushing, she giggled a little. "I can't believe I just told you that."

He smirked. "Not a big deal. I wasn't a virgin either."

"You didn't seem like one," She smiled. "But anyway, we didn't break up because he was a senior and I was a junior. That wasn't it at all. I always held that bit of insecurity, knowing there were plenty of pretty senior girls he could've been dating instead of me but he assured me he didn't want to date them. He only wanted me, and I loved that. I appreciated that honesty."

Sighing, Gabriella continued. "My family loved him too. He got along great with my parents and my Dad wasn't worried once when we went out. He used to talk to Nick about girl problems and sometimes would play dolls with McKenzie and Miranda. How many other boyfriends would do that? I felt invincible when I was with him and believed he was the perfect guy. I was just awestruck that he could still feel things for me when I barely measured up to his standards."

"Hey," Troy interjected. "Whose standards wouldn't you measure up to? You're beautiful and smart and... just a great person. Don't talk like that."

"I can't tell if you're being serious or not."

He took her hand. "I am."

"June rolled around, and as I was excited about becoming a senior, Matt was graduating. I went to the graduation, sat through the four hundred names, and cheered the loudest when he received his diploma. He was headed to Arkansas to play football for the Razorbacks, and was going to miss him terribly. But I knew we had a whole summer to spend together before we ultimately had to say goodbye. I thought we'd honestly be okay. I gave him all my contact information, and he promised to give me his as soon as he got settled."

Taking a deep breath, she knew the hard part was coming. "He never gave me the information. That same night, after all the tears had fallen from graduating, we all went back to Matt's house for a graduation party. The next day was the first official day of summer vacation, and I couldn't wait to spend every waking second with him. I thought he couldn't either. But then I realized he was avoiding me. It was weird, as just hours before everything was okay. I shrugged it off, however, and just spent the night dancing and partying with my friends."

"So he was acting weird all night and you didn't sense something was up?" Troy asked, not sarcastically, just wanting to know.

Gabriella shook her head. "I just never thought he'd break up with me. That thought never crossed my mind. Ever."

He squeezed her hand, urging her to finish. "The end of the party was nearing, and he came and found me in the crowd. I hadn't seen him all day, but when I reached up to kiss him, he turned away. He told me we needed to talk, and brought me to the front porch where we could be alone. By now, I was kind of figuring something was wrong, but I still didn't believe what he was going to say next. I never thought he'd do it. Not to me. Not to us. We were in love, weren't we? How could he destroy that?"

"Can't believe he did."

"Me either. He stated it simply: I think we should break up. I thought he was joking. I didn't believe him at first. There was no way we would be breaking up. Or so I thought. I asked if he was serious and he said yes. He told me that he didn't want to be tied down when he went off to college, you know, the typical guy response. He said it would be good for us to see other people. But I told him I didn't want to see other people. I really loved him and not anyone else."

Gabriella gulped past the lump in her throat. "Matt nearly laughed in my face when I said that. He was like, 'Are you serious, Gabriella? We're not in love!' and I just stared at him. I asked him what the hell he was talking about and when he saw that I was serious, he said, 'Gabriella, this isn't love! We're just teenagers! We don't even know what love is!' This hurt, believe me this hurt, but I was persistent. I told him we did know what love was and that I loved him beyond belief. But he only laughed and said, 'I don't love you.'"

Troy truly felt for her. It must've been hell hearing something like that. "What an asshole."

"I know," Gabriella wiped the tears running down her cheeks. "And I loved this jerk, can you believe it?"

Her tears continued to fall as she completed the story. "I was so heartbroken I didn't leave my room for a week. I cried constantly and even though Taylor and Chad and all my other friends were there to comfort me, I wouldn't have it. It was hard; the hardest thing I've ever gone through. I just don't want to get hurt again, Troy. You don't know what it's like to be walking on cloud nine and then have it all ripped out from under you. I thought he loved me. He told me he did, but it turns out it was all a lie."

"Hey, hey," Troy caught the tears that were still spilling down her cheeks. "Not every guy is like that jerk. Any guy would be lucky to have you as his girlfriend."

He wished he hadn't said that. Could he have been any more obvious?

But she smiled. "Thank you."

"It's true."

They were silent for a while before she shook her head. "Oh, why are we being all sentimental all of a sudden? Let's go back to hating each other."

Troy laughed, but said, "Maybe I don't want to."

Gabriella looked him in eye. "I don't either."

"I suck at relationships, though." He admitted, realizing he still hadn't let go of her hand.

She realized it too, but didn't pull it away. "Oh, like I'm any better? Did you pay attention to the story I just told? I went a year and a half thinking my boyfriend loved me when he didn't. I got dumped at a graduation party!"

"My last girlfriend thought New Mexico had its own language."

"I tried to put off having sex with Matt because I was scared. Every time he wanted to, I would think of my parents and my five other siblings and that would be it for me."

"My first girlfriend dumped me because I forgot her name."

"The guy I dated before Matt was shorter than me and that's why I broke up with him."

"I took a girl to junior prom last year and she yelled at me in front of the whole dance because I didn't get her a corsage. I didn't know what that was. I still don't."

"Wait, you don't know what a corsage is?" Gabriella laughed.

"You dumped a guy because he was short!" Troy accused.

They both laughed at each other's failed relationships and Gabriella sighed. "Okay, we both suck at this."

"Don't think we'll get much better."

There was a short pause in conversation before Troy glanced at the hand he was holding. Upon Gabriella's wrist was the diamond bracelet he'd bought her months ago. Grinning, he admired it. "Nice bracelet."

She blushed. "Thanks. Never take it off."

"Really?" He asked, impressed. "Never?"

Gabriella shook her head. "Never. Well, except for showering. I don't want it to get rusty. And sleeping. I don't want to snag it on the pillows or blankets."

Troy smirked. "So you do take it off?"

Gabriella only smiled at him. "I always put it right back on."


	11. Just Getting Started

**So yeah. Hey there. This is a really short and crappy filler chapter. Just so you all know. You don't have to review telling me this sucks, because I already know that. :( Anyway, how was your day? How was school? Do you have homework for the weekend? Sorry again, I'm taking up space. I own nothing so... let's just get on with this already.**

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Chapter Eleven: Just Getting Started

"So let me get this straight," Taylor McKessie alleged disbelievingly as she leaned against the locker beside her best friend. "You two are going out now?"

Gabriella shrugged, a lingering smile on her face. "I don't know. I guess."

"But I don't understand!" She was exasperated and threw up her hands. "Didn't you hate each other on Friday?"

"Yeah, I mean I guess so." Gabriella sighed. "I told him about Matt."

"And he cared?"

Gabriella shot her best friend a look. "Yes. Ever since _your_ genius of a boyfriend decided to mention to him that I was still bitter since Matt, he's been pestering me to tell him what happened between us."

Taylor shook her head. "I don't believe it. I just don't believe it. Why would you go out with this kid?"

"I don't know, Taylor. Ever since Saturday when he asked me out, I've been wondering the same thing."

The Monday morning after Gabriella had informed Troy of the Matt fiasco was a strange one. She had walked with Troy to school that morning and they held hands. Awkward. They approached the school and he held the door open for her. Strange. He walked her to her locker and kissed her goodbye. Bizarre. Now why were these normal couple actions awkward, strange and bizarre? Because Troy and Gabriella were not a normal couple.

Troy decided to admit his feelings and ask her out after the Matt confession and she agreed. They both were aware of the feelings that had been there between them for quite some time now. By telling someone about her past relationship, Gabriella finally reached closure and was able to move on. But neither of them were willing to admit it was anything more than a crush. Troy didn't believe in love. Gabriella didn't think she could feel it again. And yet...

Her stomach fluttered as she watched him approach her out of the corner of her eye. She loaded the appropriate books and binders into her tote bag, trying to ignore that her heart was pounding and the muscles in her limbs began to quiver. What was this feeling? Why was she feeling this way? Taylor raised an eyebrow as she glanced at her best friend, who shrugged as her eyes widened, telling her to back off. Taylor wouldn't get it. No one would. Everyone had normal, happy relationships. But hers was different. It wasn't butterfly kisses and 'I love you's'. But it was hers. And she enjoyed the feeling.

Taylor took a glimpse of her friend's wrist. "Hey, nice bracelet. That kind of looks like the one we were swooning over at Zion's."

Gabriella giggled slightly. "Well, about that..."

Her best friend caught on. "You said you didn't have three hundred dollars!"

"Nope," A husky voice broke in. "She didn't. But I did."

"You?" Taylor questioned, taking a look at the boy. "Well I should've known."

"Yes you should've," Troy smirked. "Can I talk to Gabriella alone please?"

Taylor eyed him. "Why?"

"Hey, I said please." Troy teased.

Taylor glanced at him and then at her best friend before backing away. "Fine. But I'm staying within hearing distance. You know, so I can hear her if she screams."

Gabriella shook her head, rolling her eyes and taking a look at the sandy-haired boy in front of her. "What?"

His visage turned serious and he uttered but two words. "You win."

She gave him a weird look. "What do you mean I win? Win what?"

Troy only chuckled. "You win. You win. You win. Win. Win."

"Win what?" She whined. "Is there like some contest that I didn't know about or something?"

"Yeah. The one between you and me."

Gabriella hung back in confusion. A contest between her and Troy? There wasn't one, as far as she was concerned. Maybe he was talking about their relationship. Was this kind of like a joke to him? Was he only teasing her again by pretending to like her? She thought it was real, but maybe he was only stringing her along and he couldn't stand it anymore. Maybe he was bored and was coming to break up with her, to tell her the truth, to move on to his next trick. She looked back at him with caution.

"Which contest? Seriously, I have no clue what you're talking about."

"You told me a few weeks ago that you never seem to win the arguments we have." Troy told her. "Remember? Well, you win."

"Okay," Gabriella still wasn't getting this. "But we're not arguing."

Troy shook his head. "No. You win the whole thing. I admit it; I annoyed you because you were at the top of this school and I'm used to being at that level. And I kind of intended on being there, until you stood in my way. We're like one in the same- sarcastic and a little on the bitter side- and I wanted to win, you know that? But guess what? I'm giving up, okay? You. Win."

She stared at him, mouth agape. "I win? _Me_?"

He nodded. "You. Oh and by the way, congratulations. You win again."

Troy handed her a manila folder and walked the opposite way down the hallway. Gabriella opened the folder in confusion. Inside was a letter and an informational packet. Her eyes bulged as she read the first few lines.

_Miss Gabriella Montez, you have been selected to be East High School's valedictorian for the class of 2009_...

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Gabriella knocked furiously on Troy's door that afternoon, the minute she got home from her congratulatory meeting with the school's staff. How could he have known she was the valedictorian but she hadn't? And how had he gotten a hold of the papers that told her so? She was in a whirlwind of confusion and her boyfriend wasn't answering the door. She knew he was home and his parents most likely were as well. But it didn't matter. She wanted to speak to him firmly about this and as she continued knocking, she only got even more frustrated.

Finally, Kathryn Bolton opened the door. "Hello hun. Come on in. Troy's on the balcony."

"Oh. Thank you. Sorry I was knocking so harshly, I just..." She trailed off and Kathryn laughed.

"That's fine dear. You don't have to apologize."

Gabriella only smiled and hurried out to the balcony. Troy turned around as she slammed the door shut. "What the hell? Where did you get that packet?"

He grinned. "Hello to you too."

"Answer my question! Why didn't I get that packet? How come you had it?"

"Gabriella, would you calm down?" He laughed. "I was picking up my cap and gown in the main office when I overheard this guy talking about bringing the folder to you. So I offered to take it off his hands. He told me to make sure it got to you because it was important information about the valedictorian speech."

"But why wasn't I the first one to know about this?" Though her anger was simmering down a bit, it wasn't completely gone yet. "I mean, I'm the one they wanted, right? Why did you have to know?"

"You would've told me anyway."

"Maybe I wouldn't have."

He gave her a look. "You definitely would've. Because you would've rubbed it in my face."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "I can still do that now, can't I?"

"Ha, ha. Very funny." Troy teased before drawing her in for a hug. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." Gabriella smiled genuinely. "I'm kind of nervous, though. I mean I have to write this amazing speech and then memorize it and recite it to our five hundred-person class and their parents and families. That's just a bit nerve-wracking."

"Don't be nervous. It'll be easy." He encouraged. "You're good at this kind of thing."

She glanced at him. "And you know that how...?"

"I read your transcript, remember?"

Over the next few weeks, it really became significant that Troy and Gabriella lived next door to each other. Whenever one of them needed something, whether it was a favor, a talk, or just some company, all they had to do was travel next door. It was a great convenience and in most ways, they grew even closer. Their relationship became more "normal" than it was before. They comforted, they kissed, and they were there for each other. Though, they never actually stopped taunting each other to no extent.

"Okay, this is going to sound really corny and totally not like me," Gabriella began a week or so later as she and Troy walked to school together, hand in hand. "But I'm really glad we live next to each other. I like knowing that you're next door."

He nudged her. "Why, so I can chase the monsters out of your closet?"

"No!" She laughed. "So-"

"So I can share in the _pleasure_ of having six siblings?"

"No! So-"

"So when you go out to your balcony and scream my name, I can climb over like Rapunzel and her prince?"

"Troy, no-"

"So I can annoy the hell out of you 24/7?"

"Oh my god, Troy!"

"So-"

Gabriella placed her hand over his mouth. "Stop talking so I can finish my sentence!"

"Mmph." Troy mumbled from beneath her hand, and she felt a smile creep up on his lips.

"I like having you next door so... so..." Gabriella was at loss for words. "Damn it to hell! Look what you did. Now I don't even remember what I was going to say!"

Troy only laughed and followed his girlfriend into the school, knowing their relationship was just at the beginning.


	12. Old Tensions Resurfaced

**Hello! I'm on a roll with my updates lately. Thank you so much for your reviews for the previous chapter. I loved all of your reactions to Troy and Gabriella's relationship. I think smartgirl231814 said it best when she described their relationship as "you annoy me so much but I can't be away from you." That's _exactly_ what it's like. And that's only proven in this chapter. They have the argument of the century, now don't kill me, okay? I warned you!**

**I own nothing. Not High School Musical or Red Robin. YUMMMMMM! Lol, that's the commercial.**

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Chapter Twelve: Old Tensions Resurfaced

The last week of April brought new experiences to the senior class at East High. They were finishing up the last of their classes at high school and getting ready to leave the protective nest at home and branch out into the real world. Lessons were coming to a close, teachers were closing their grade books, and the staff was beginning to organize the graduation ceremony. It was last of the festivities the class of 2009 would experience.

Gabriella was extremely nervous and stressed out over her valedictorian speech. She had written most of it, but it had many holes and pauses she still needed to fill. Nicholas was concentrated on becoming the head of the school next year when he moved on to eighth grade, officially becoming those who "ruled the school." Miranda and McKenzie were eager but filled with jitters because they were going to sixth grade, which meant middle school, a whole new adventure and experience for them. Alexander was going to third grade and Jacob would be heading to kindergarten, while Maria continued to work from home and care for little Leah.

Troy was content with his life as well. He was headed to the University of Southern California, like he planned, in only three months after the culmination of graduation. On this particular day, April twenty-fourth, a Friday, Troy had returned home from school in a predominantly good mood. He had plans to double-date with Taylor and Chad that evening with Gabriella, and then afterwards return to her apartment so she could read her speech to him for extra help. As he closed the door to the apartment and tossed his backpack on the barstool, he noticed both his parents were already home.

That was odd.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked with caution. The only time he remembered that his parents were home before him was when his grandfather died in the fourth grade. That was a horrible day. "Who died?"

Kathryn shook her head. "No one, sweetheart. We just have wonderful news!"

"Like what?" Then his eyes widened. "You're not pregnant, are you? Oh God, our family can't turn out like Gabriella's!"

Jack looked slightly uncomfortable and Kathryn coughed a little. "No hun, I'm not pregnant. It's something much less life-altering."

"Is this about dinner? Because I'm going out with Gabriella later, and I-"

"No, no," Jack cut him off. "It's about our house."

"This one? What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing's wrong with it," Kathryn defended. "It's just... we've sold it."

Troy dropped everything and looked at his parents in bewilderment. "We're moving?"

"You knew this day would come, son. We bought a house a few miles from here but they hadn't finished building it when we moved the first time," Jack explained. "Remember? That's why we moved in to this complex. It was always just a temporary move."

"Yeah," Kathryn laughed. "I mean, we weren't going to live in here forever!"

"Couldn't you have waited until I left?" Troy asked, furious. "I don't want to leave now!"

Jack and Kathryn looked at each other in shock. "But you couldn't wait to leave when we first moved in."

"Well, that was then." He responded. _That was before Gabriella._ "You honestly don't see how this could ruin my life if you make me leave now?"

"We're leaving on May first, actually."

"That's not the point!" Troy practically screamed. "I like this apartment. I like how close it is to the school. I like the private balcony. And besides..."

He didn't want to say it. He didn't want his parents to see the vulnerability in him. But he needed the proximity to Gabriella. And he knew she needed it too.

She was going to freak out when he told her.

"Besides what?" Jack inquired his son. "What's up?"

"Forget it. You don't care."

Troy retired to his room and focused on prepping himself for his date. One of the most important things to him was his relationship with Gabriella; he was willing to admit it. It was a strange condition, but he and Gabriella _were_ closer because they lived just next door. When he needed help on homework- even though he was reluctant- all he needed to do was trek the four feet down the hall to Gabriella's door and she'd answer no matter what she was occupied with. When Gabriella was frustrated with her family life, she'd simply knock on Troy's door and he'd immediately make it all better. But most of all, late at night when neither of them could sleep, they'd sneak out to their balconies and talk the night away.

That, above all things, is what he would miss the most.

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The four teenagers, Troy, Chad, Gabriella, and Taylor, were seated in a rectangular booth at Red Robin, a gourmet burger restaurant, as they chatted about their day at school and what it would be like to finally graduate. Chad had just concluded his joke from his math class that afternoon, and Taylor and Gabriella were in hysterics. None of them had noticed that Troy had been awfully quiet that evening. And in his guess, that was kind of a good thing.

"Here you are," Their waitress greeted them, placing four burgers in front of the quartet. "Enjoy."

"This looks delicious." Taylor grinned, taking a bite of her burger.

"They do have the best burgers in town." Gabriella agreed, eating a French fry from her basket. "What do you think, Troy? It may not be Bob's Burger Shack in California, but it's good, right?"

Troy smiled faintly. "It's good."

Gabriella caught on to his odd nature. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. No, I'm fine. Why?"

"You look weird. And you've been really quiet." She accused. "Is there something wrong?"

"No," He shook his head. "Nothing that I need to tell you, anyway."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You tell me everything. What's up?"

"Nothing!" Troy exclaimed. "Eat your hamburger."

"No!" Gabriella stated with a half-laugh. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

"It's nothing." He grumbled, finishing his meal and ignoring the pointed stare she was shooting him.

After dinner, the four went to the carnival-theme miniature golf course down the road. They played all eighteen holes of golf twice, as the lines were extremely short and the prices were surprisingly low. Chad won the first time and Gabriella the second, but instead of congratulating his best friend and girlfriend, Troy hung back. He knew he had to tell both Chad and Gabriella about the move. And while Chad wouldn't particularly care, Gabriella would be devastated.

They would still see each other everyday, obviously. It wasn't like he was moving to France. But they'd lose their precious closeness- one of the things they treasured most.

Troy waited by the chain-link fence outside of the ball and club return. He was gripping it for dear life as he thought all about the move. When Gabriella approached him, ready to leave, she gasped in horror. "Oh God, you're bleeding!"

His automatic response was, "No I'm not."

But Gabriella pried his hand from the fence, showing him that it was indeed covered in blood. "You shouldn't have touched this fence. It's really sharp."

"Whatever."

She guided him to the unisex bathroom and washed the blood free from the cut. "What were you thinking? What got you so mad?"

"Drop it." His tone was thin and poisonous, like acid.

Gabriella glared at him. "No."

"Damn it, Gabriella! You're too stubborn! Has anyone ever told you that?" He yelled, yanking his hand away from his the second she finished bandaging it. "I'm moving, okay? Does that make you happy? Moving!"

"What do you mean moving?" She questioned him. "Moving where?"

"My new house. It's ready finally. My parents said we'd be leaving on the first."

Gabriella took a moment to take this new information in. For a second, she seemed emotionless. But only a second. Anger flashed in her eyes and fire coursed through her veins as she spat back, "So that's it? You're just going to go? You're going to leave me?"

"I don't have much of a choice!"

She stormed out of the bathroom and headed for his truck, shouting back to him as he followed her and creating a scene. "I can't believe this! I bet you're excited to go, aren't you? I bet this whole thing was just to build me up so it would much more fun to tear me down."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Troy question in confusion. "You think I wanted this?"

"Oh, I _know_ you wanted this! You get satisfaction out of pissing me off!"

"As do you!" He pointed out. "Which you're doing right now!"

"I'm pissing you off?"

"Yes!"

"Well, there's a shocker."

"Well, you are!" Troy stated in annoyance. "I can't believe you think I want this! Gabriella, this whole time I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid of your reaction."

"And I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Yes!" Troy was exasperated as they reached his car and hopped in. When he pulled out of the parking lot, he came upon a dawning realization. "You know what your problem is?"

"I doubt it," Gabriella rolled her eyes. "I'd sure as hell like you to tell me."

"You're too defensive. You think everyone in the world is out to hurt you."

She glanced at him in shock. "No I don't."

"Yes you do!" He exclaimed. "It's because of Matt, isn't it?"

"What? No!" This got her even more riled up. "And I'm _not_ too defensive. I have a right to be furious with you right now!"

"So do I have the right to be pissed with _you_?"

"No, because this is not my fault!"

Troy threw up his hands as he stopped for a red light. "This isn't my fault either! I didn't buy this new house! God, what is the big deal? No other couple lives next door to each other."

"Yeah, but we're not like the other couples. We fight nonstop and still are able to overcome that. We need the closeness to balance that out."

"Oh God, don't get all philosophical on me." He groaned, pulling into the apartment complex's parking lot.

Narrowing her eyes at her boyfriend, Gabriella said, "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Let it go. You know, why are we even arguing about this?" Troy probed, getting out of the truck as Gabriella did the same. "It's going to happen whether we like it or not so let's just deal."

"Because I don't want to 'just deal.'" She grumbled. "And for your information, _you_ started it, remember?"

"Really wish I hadn't."

"You must think you've won the ultimate prize, don't you?" Gabriella asked him disbelievingly. "Making me feel great about myself and telling me I win."

"No! If anything, it's been taken away."

"Oh, right!" She cried in skepticism. "You just wanted me to tell you the Matt story, to trust you, so you could hurt me the exact same way! You wanted me to let you in so you could take my half-mangled heart and rip it apart again!"

"How could someone so smart be this stupid?" Troy screamed. "You honestly believe I'd want you to hurt? Or even worse, that _I_ would want to be the one who caused it!!"

"Oh please, it's obvious!" She was adamant. "I just wish I would've known beforehand so I wouldn't have given you the chance!"

Troy mumbled something incoherent. Gabriella huffed. "But what I_ really_ don't understand is why the hell you're getting mad at me!!" Gabriella noted.

"I don't understand why you're getting so worked up about it!"

She stopped walking right outside her door. "Because Troy, this matters to me! _We_ matter! I won't have anyone to talk to on the balcony when I can't fall asleep at night! I can't just walk next door and discuss my valedictorian speech with a perfect stranger! No one can rescue me from my family like you can! Can't you see that?"

"Gabriella-"

"No, you can't. You can't see it!" Gabriella was hysterical. "I have feelings, Troy! I may not display them out in the open as much as other girls do, but they are there. They do exist. I think that's the difference between us. We may both be sarcastic and biting, but I actually have emotion."

"Are you saying I don't?" Troy yelled at her. "What the hell, Gabriella!?!"

"You don't get it!" She screamed back. "When Matt broke up with me, I was completely broken! I told myself that I wouldn't let anyone else hurt me the way he did. I knew deep down, somewhere, that you would probably do the same. But I gave you a chance anyway! This isn't the same situation, but it feels like the same kind of pain."

"Gabriella, I didn't want to hurt you." Troy was frustrated and furious that she would think that way. "I am not like Matt!"

"But you are," Gabriella sighed, turning the knob on her apartment door. "Because you might not have wanted to hurt me, but you did."


	13. The Importance of Being Loved

**Ha ha, hi. I love this chapter. It makes me grin. Everyone got all mad last chapter, saying "Gabriella's so stupid! It's not Troy's fault!" Ha ha, yeah. I know that. That was the point of the argument. She realizes that, but Troy's moving so there's not really anything she can do... or is there? Lol. Do enjoy this chapter and thank you all for your lovely reviews! Oh, by the way, this story is practically over. There's only one chapter after this one. Yeah. Sorry for the short notice. But that's how life goes...**

**I want to give a special thanks to BubbleGum236 who just found this story and still reviewed every single chapter. Thanks soooo much!!**

**I own... n...o...t...h...i...n...g...**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: The Importance of Being Loved

"Why am I so stupid?" Gabriella questioned herself quietly as she lay on the couch, hands covering her closed eyes. "Seriously, someone answer this question right now."

"You've always been stupid." Nicholas answered for her from the computer, grinning devilishly. "Seriously, you're book-smart, but not people-smart."

Gabriella turned her head to glare at her brother. "I didn't mean for _you_ to answer it."

Nicholas looked around the room. "No one else is here."

"Whatever."

"Gab, what the hell is your problem?" He stood and came to the chair beside her. "You've been sulking for a week."

"Yes I have. I can't focus on anything, my teachers keep stealing glances at me like I'm going to break down in tears at any moment, and I can't finish this freaking valedictorian speech!" She screamed in frustration.

"A.D.D.?" Nick asked mockingly and Gabriella only sighed.

"Shut up."

Nick threw up his hands. "Alright look, I don't like having mushy and queer talk with my sister, but you've got to talk to someone. You can't talk to Mom and Dad, for obvious reasons, Kenzie and Randa could care less about your problems, and Alex and Jake are too young. So shoot. Lay it on me."

Gabriella glanced at her brother. Was he serious? Did he honestly think she was going to talk to him about her problems with Troy? She had been so stupid. Of course it wasn't his fault! Did he buy the house? Did he plan on moving? No, not at all. And yet, all she did was yell and reprimand him for a problem his parents had caused. But that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part wasn't that they hadn't spoken in a week. It wasn't that he was moving or that she knew it wasn't really his fault.

The worst part was that he was right.

She _hated_ that she knew everything he said was right. She was too defensive, she did think everyone was out to hurt her, and it _was_ because of Matt. It was times like these when she really hated Matt. He'd ruined her in ways she never expected. It was like when you touched the outside of a frying pan without a potholder, the searing pain of the burn causing your skin to redden and scar. Then you wouldn't ever touch it again without taking the proper precautions, in case of reopening the wound. This is exactly what Gabriella was doing. Taking precautions, being too careful, so as to not get hurt again.

She looked at her brother again. "You really want to know?"

"No," He shook his head. "But you really need to let it out before your head explodes. Try me."

"He's moving," Gabriella blurted out. "His parents bought a house when they first moved here but it wasn't finished. The contractors hadn't finished building it so they moved in here. It's finished now and they're moving this weekend."

"And you're mad because of that?" Nick laughed. "So what, Gabriella? It's not like he's moving to Mars."

"Yeah but you don't get it," She began to explain. "We have this connection. It's really important that we lived next door. He needed help with something and I was right there. I needed advice and he was right there. We were there for each other in ways that normal couples just couldn't be."

"Well what are you going to do?" Nick asked. "You don't really have a choice here."

"I know, but I was so stupid and I blamed it all on him and now we're not even speaking and-"

"Wait, you blamed it on him?" Her brother looked at her in incredulity. "Gabriella, it's not his fault!"

"I know! I know!" She defended. "Don't you think I realize that by now?"

"Well then, what's the issue? I clearly don't see a problem here."

"Nick, we haven't spoken in a week! He thinks I hate him and vice versa and... and..." She trailed off, not wanting to continue.

"And what?" Nick probed. "Don't leave me on a cliffhanger."

"And... I compared him to Matt." Gabriella admitted quietly.

"What?!? Why?"

"I don't know! I don't know!" Gabriella panicked. "I'm regretting it, believe me. He's _nothing_ like Matt. It was just a moment of weakness and I didn't know what to say. It seemed like it fit in the moment and I just said it... I told you I was stupid!"

"I'll say," Nick agreed. "One thing I learned is that you never _ever_ compare your current flame to your ex. That's absolutely uncalled for."

Gabriella looked him doubtfully. "Where would you learn that, Dr. Phil?"

"Hey, I've had my fair share of relationships."

"You're in eighth grade!"

"Seventh," He corrected. "My generation starts early."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Can you just tell me what to do? I need help."

"Well I'm glad you're finally realizing that," Nick commented and ignored the second eye-roll he got from his sister. "But honestly, I can't tell you what to do. You have to figure it out. Go apologize or something. But I don't know what to tell you."

Gabriella was dumbfounded. "Then what was the point of our conversation?"

Nick shrugged. "I don't know. Didn't it make you feel better to confide your troubles in your ever-loving brother?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Not really."

"Oh. Well then it was just for shits and giggles."

* * *

Friday afternoon, May first, Gabriella headed downstairs to retrieve the mail with her youngest sister, Leah, on her hip. Her father was still at work, her mother had an emergency at the hall where the wedding she was planning was taking place and had to step out, so it was just Gabriella to fend for herself and brothers and sisters. Life. She adjusted the five-month-old baby on her hip as she unlocked her mailbox and took out its contents. There were a few bills and some magazines her twin sisters had ordered, but other than that, there wasn't anything exciting.

Just then, Leah's pacifier fell from her mouth and she began to whimper. When Gabriella bent down to pick it up, a man in front of her got to it first. "Oh I'll get that for you. Here you go."

"Thank you," Gabriella smiled politely, placing it in her pocket. The man nodded and turned his attention back to the box he'd been carrying. Gabriella frowned.

The back of his shirt read 'Albuquerque Movers.'

"Oh no, it's May first, isn't it?" She asked no one in particular. Noticing a few other movers coming downstairs with even larger boxes, she sighed. "Leah, we have to make a little detour on the way home."

Gabriella hurried up the stairs and her jaw nearly dropped when she came to her door. How could she not have noticed the moving on the way down? Troy's front door was open and his mother was inside, taping a box shut as his father was finishing loading boxes onto carts. She peered around the wall and finally she saw him, sitting on the floor, leaning against the far wall. He was throwing a mini basketball against the wall and catching it, listening intently to his iPod which was glued to his ears.

And then his eyes fell on her.

He pulled the ear buds from his form and walked swiftly through the door. Leah seemed much happier to see him than Gabriella was. She reached out to him with a grin. Troy smiled. "Hi Leah. How are you, little girl?"

"Troy..." Gabriella started but was cut off.

"What, Gabriella? What do you want?"

"I came to apologize to you." She sighed. "I was really, really stupid and I just want you to know that I know this isn't your fault. I was stupid to think that it was."

"You're not stupid, Gabriella." Troy stopped her.

"No, I am. And I'm really sorry. It was just my insecurities."

Troy nodded but didn't say another word and turned back into the apartment while Gabriella just stared at him. "So that's it?"

"Yep."

"You're just going to walk away? You're not even going to say anything?"

Troy turned and shrugged. "Is there anything else to say?"

"Yes!" She exclaimed. "Are we okay? Can we start talking again?"

"We're talking now, aren't we?"

Gabriella only looked at him. "That's not what I meant. I miss you, Troy."

"I miss you too, Gabriella. And I'll miss you when I leave today too, even though you think I won't."

She bit her lip. "About that, I shouldn't have said it."

"Plus, I don't think we can talk. I mean, I'll never know when I'm hurting you. Although I shouldn't care. I am just like Matt, after all."

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean any of that!"

Troy only smirked. "Yeah, okay."

Gabriella stepped back in shock that he didn't believe her. "I'm serious! I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

"Gabriella, listen," Troy looked her square in the eye. "I never meant to hurt you. This isn't my fault. Trust me, I got ridiculously mad at my parents when the told me we were moving. I didn't want to leave you... I still don't. And I'm nothing like Matt. I didn't hurt you deliberately. And he's an asshole because he did. I might enjoy teasing you and taunting you a little, but I'd never want to hurt you!"

Gabriella gulped as he went on. "I'm sorry I told you that you were too defensive and thought everyone was out to hurt you but maybe it's true. Maybe it's what you needed to hear. Because there are still good people out in this world, Gabriella. I'm not saying I'm the best possible option for you, but there's still good guys out there who won't break you down."

He began to walk away but decided if he didn't tell her now, he never would.

"I love you Gabriella." Troy nodded, a quaint smile on his face. "I actually love you. That in itself is how I'm different from Matt."

Gabriella carried herself- and her baby sister- back to their apartment. He had just confessed his love for her. All of this coming from the kid who didn't believe in teenage love! She was shocked, mortified, downright ashamed of herself. He loved her. She'd given up a chance of love with Troy because of some childish argument? She screwed up. She really _really_ screwed up. Bouncing Leah on her knee, she looked at the little girl.

"What do I do, Leah? He loves me."

The baby girl stared up at her and cooed softly. Gabriella smiled. "I wish my life was as simple as yours. Just lying there and having everyone do everything for you."

"But he loves me, Leah. I've never had anyone love me before. I mean, _really_ love me." She kissed her sister's forehead. "What if I love him too?"

* * *

Sunday morning, May third, Gabriella opened her front door to the hallway and frowned. Her eyes slid to right and she realized if she went over there right now and knocked on the door, a sleepy-eyed Troy Bolton would not answer it. She bent down and picked up newspaper her father had asked for and slammed the door behind her, returning to the kitchen and the pancake breakfast her mother had made. Richard Montez thanked his oldest daughter when she brought him the paper and continued to sip his coffee.

"No problem." She mumbled, forking a bite of pancake into her mouth.

"... so Morgan said that I could sleep over on Friday," Miranda reasoned. "And McKenzie wants to go to Meghan's."

"Is it like a rule with you two that every friend of yours has to have a name that starts with M?" Nick asked mockingly.

"No," McKenzie answered, even though the question was directed towards Miranda. "Just most of our friends do, that's all."

Richard took that moment to open up the newspaper and piece of loose leaf lined paper fell out. It was folded in quarters and Richard picked it up, eying the scrawly handwriting on the front. "Gabriella, the paper boy's leaving you a note."

Gabriella looked up from her plate and snatched the paper from her father. "Let me see."

She stood and read the name on the front- hers, in chicken-scratch writing- before opening the paper to read the contents.

_167 Cedar Crest Avenue_

_Albuquerque, New Mexico_

Gabriella's heart rate sped up and she raced to her bedroom, ignoring calls from her mother wondering where she was going. She ripped off her pajamas and threw on clothing and shoes before running her hands through her hair in attempt to calm it. She brushed her teeth in record speed and put on very little makeup before flying through the door of her apartment, down the steps, and out into the early morning New Mexican air.

And then, she ran.

Gabriella ran down the streets of Albuquerque, not taking any time to breathe and barely paying attention to traffic. She sprinted past the school and past Taylor's house where her mother was just waking up and opening curtains. She dashed through downtown Albuquerque disregarding the stares and questions she was receiving from the people around her. It didn't matter. None of it mattered. All that mattered was getting to the destination. She began to cry as she got closer and cursed herself for being so vulnerable. Finding Cedar Crest Avenue, she pushed herself to continue. After everything they'd been through, he still cared.

One sixty-seven. She had arrived.

It was a cute little Spanish-stucco style house. It was pale and tan in color with a balcony on the upper level in the front of the house. The roof was a reddish brown and shingled appropriately as the walkway leading up to the beautiful oak doors was set in stone. There were many festive plants adding to the colorful exterior which had Gabriella impressed. She walked up the walkway slowly and rang the doorbell when she got to the front door. It was grand and beautiful, this house. No wonder they wanted to move.

Troy answered the door in his typical attire- jeans and a blue t-shirt- and the look of surprise on his face was an understatement. To see this girl on his front step, crying and out of breath, was an interesting sight at nine in the morning. Finally, after a moment of staring at each other, Gabriella stepped a bit closer and Troy gathered her in his arms. He rubbed her back slowly as her tears subsided and she clung to him, fearing at any moment he would disappear.

Stepping back from her just enough that he could see her face, he smirked. "Hi."

"I love you." Was her response. "I love you and I'm sorry."

Troy chuckled. "You don't have to be sorry."

"Yes I do," Gabriella struggled to catch her breath. "I just took my anger out on you and I shouldn't have. It wasn't your fault. And you're not like Matt."

"I know."

"And you're right, you know. Everything you said was right. I am too defensive and I do think that everyone is out to hurt me. But can you blame me? Matt destroyed me. I couldn't help myself. But it was everything I needed to hear."

"Gabriella, I know."

"And then you told me you loved me which caught me completely off guard. But I realized that this feeling that I have when I'm with you is totally different than the one I had with Matt. You and I are totally different. And I love you too. I really do."

"Gabriella," Troy stopped her. "I _know_. Do you think you'd be here this early on a Sunday morning if you didn't?"

Gabriella smiled. "How did you get that letter into our paper?"

Troy only grinned. "I will never tell my mysterious ways."

She gasped. "Jerk."

"What are you gonna do?"

Gabriella shook her head. "I still have a question. You told me a million times over that you didn't believe in love. Why the sudden change in feeling?"

"This is going to sound really cliché and stupid, but you made me believe in love, Gabriella." Troy admitted. "Every other relationship I've had in the past was meaningless and just a fling but then you came along and everything was different. I saw how important it was to you to be loved and I wanted to know the feeling."

"And do you?" Gabriella asked. "Don't you see how great it is to be loved?"

Troy didn't answer. He simply leaned down and gave her, this wonderful girl he never expected to fall for, a kiss.

That was answer enough.


	14. Home

**Aw, how sad is this? The last chapter of "If You Lived Here." I'm tearing up already, hahaha. I don't know what I'm going to do now. This story is over and so is "Seven Wonders" (I mean, not technically, but I did already finish writing it, just not posting it). I'm pretty confident that I'm going to delete "Summer Nights." Is anyone opposed to that? I have absolutely ZERO inspiration for it anymore. So yeah, that was a waste of my time. Anyway, thank you all for your wonderful reviews throughout the duration of this story and enjoy the final chapter!**

**And yes, the final line is the title from that TV show that Zac Efron was supposed to be on... but it got canceled before it even ran. That show was kind of like the inspiration for this story, in a way. Enjoy! **

**I own zipola for the last time.**

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Chapter Fourteen: Home

Birds chirped outside in the warm spring atmosphere, singing a magnificent song of happiness and glee. The sweet aroma of tulips and daisies filtered in through the open window of the bedroom, both scents mixing to form a combination of floral delight. Everything in the air was filled with the joy of late spring, which meant graduation and finally getting out of town. The class of 2009 was going to experience life in the real world, out on their own for the very first time.

But none of that really mattered to Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez.

Today, an excessively warm near-summer day two weeks before graduation, Troy and Gabriella were just being themselves. They had overcome many obstacles during the course of their relationship over the past year, and the final destination was above satisfying. They were at his beautiful house, his parents no where in sight, lying in his bed in each other's arms. She was reciting her valedictorian speech to him for approval- and also to test herself and see if she had memorized it- but he was nestled in the curve of her neck, distracting her from her actions.

"... and so as we leave this school this afternoon to embark on our incredible journey throughout life, we have to ask ourselves... um... Troy, stop it!"

He only chuckled and continued. "Do we really know what we want?"

Glaring at him, Gabriella tried to finish. "We have to ask ourselves do we really know what we want out of life? Are we even qualified to make such a... um, important... no..."

"Significant."

"Yeah, significant. Are we even qualified to make such a significant decision? After all, what we choose to pursue is what we become. It's the most... uh..."

"The most defining day of our lives."

"Troy!" Gabriella complained. "You know my speech better than I do!"

Troy kissed her neck again. "Well you read it to me a million times!"

Sitting up in frustration and breaking their contact, Gabriella shivered as an oncoming breeze from the open window met her body. "I just wanted to see if I memorized it!"

"Well you didn't. Clearly."

"Shut up!" She shouted at him, shivering again. "I did too! You just distracted me."

Troy reached up and pulled her back down to his warm embrace, ceasing her incessant shivering. "Are you cold?"

"No," She stated, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "This is just the reaction when you aren't wearing clothes and a breeze hits your body."

Laughing, Troy kissed her cheek. "Calm yourself. You know your speech inside and out. And I do too, so if you suddenly forget it onstage, I'll rush up there and help you."

"I'm sorry. Does it annoy you that I recited my speech so many times to you?"

He shook his head. "No babe, not at all."

This answer satisfied her and she settled into him again. "So are you excited to graduate?"

"Absolutely. I can't wait to get back to California."

"To get back to your strawberry-kiwi-banana smoothies?" Gabriella teased.

"Yes." He laughed. "And back to surfing. And all my friends I left behind."

"Back to your home." She said softly but Troy shook his head.

"This is my home now. California can deal with it."

This made her smile and she kissed his bare shoulder. "I'm kind of nervous to be going out there all on my own."

Troy looked at her in surprise. "Whoa, you? No way."

"Yes way." Gabriella admitted. "When you grow up with six brothers and sisters it's going to be extremely different to be living on your own."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Troy sighed, running a finger down her cheek. "But you'll be fine. You're a genius and you can do anything."

"Thank you. Well you too. You may not be a genius, but..."

He chuckled. "Thanks a lot."

She giggled. "You're welcome."

* * *

It was June twelfth, the last day of school and two weeks before graduation. When school got out that afternoon at three o'clock, there would be two weeks of Regents examinations and final assessments before the senior class of East High would say goodbye to Albuquerque forever. Gabriella woke up at six that morning to the low whine of her baby sister and lifted the little girl into her arms before her parents could get to her. She brought her to the kitchen to feed her, a smile upon her face as she did so.

"Oh Leah, can you believe it? I'm leaving you guys in just a few months!" She asked her sister as she bottle-fed her. "It'll just be you and the twins in our bedroom. Although, I guess that's a good thing, isn't it? There are way too many of us in there right now."

Leah's big brown eyes bore into Gabriella's intently as she stared at her older sister. "You're so hungry this morning, baby girl! I am too, now that you mention it. Let's make some breakfast, huh?"

By now, Gabriella was a pro at handling a baby and also doing something else at the same time. She and her parents were extremely efficient multitaskers. Gabriella mixed herself a bowl of cereal and as she ate it and balanced her youngest sister on her knee, one by one her family began to filter downstairs, and the silence in the kitchen was no longer. Alex and Jake fought over who got which cereal- because Cap'n Crunch is _way_ better than Lucky Charms, obviously- McKenzie and Miranda were screaming back and forth at each other because of their outfit choices, and Nick was arguing with Richard over his grades, which weren't up to par. Gabriella only rolled her eyes and finished up her bowl of cereal, rinsing it out in the sink as her mother appeared in the kitchen.

Maria placed her hand over her heart. "Oh, there she is! Gab, I didn't know you took her this morning."

"Yeah, she was getting hungry a little early this morning." Gabriella informed her mother, handing over the little girl. "Good luck today, Mom. Your kids are a little unruly."

Maria only nodded. "Thanks hon. I'll need it."

Gabriella proceeded to get ready for her final day of school and headed out into the day. It was warm and sunny and she grinned in pleasure. She wasn't always like this. It just made her simply happy to know that it was a brand new day, and even though everything as she knew it was going to end today, it was also the beginning of a whole new life. She met Taylor on the corner of one of the adjoining streets and they walked together, initiating conversation about their final day at East High.

In homeroom, Miss Darbus began to tear up when saying her goodbyes to the class of 2009, but because she had always acted as if she couldn't care less about them, none of the seniors actually believed her. Plus, she had been a drama major in college, so how were they supposed to know if she was being genuine or if she was acting? First period Gabriella had a free period and she and Troy walked around the school, falling into easy conversation and trying not to broach the subject of leaving. Eight periods to go...

Fifth period was American Literature, and Gabriella couldn't _wait_ to get out of that class. She had had enough of _Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, The Last of the Mohicans_, etc. Plus, this was also the class that Troy always wanted to upstage her in and usually succeeded. Mrs. Whitney kept staring at the clock, which the class thought was mildly hilarious, as she couldn't wait for school to let out either. It was a long day, especially when spent waiting for it to be over. Four periods left...

Ninth period was her AP Calculus class, and even though she loved Math, she couldn't wait for that clock to hit 2:40. Though it was the last day of class, her teacher Mr. Warner insisted on continuing his lessons. He made the entire class solve four extremely difficult equations before being able to leave that afternoon, and everyone complained. Gabriella finished her problems twenty minutes early, and stared out the window, lost in thought. It was over. She was done. Seventeen minutes...

The bell rang and the school erupted in chaos. It was truly the end.

Balloons, streamers, and confetti- all red and white, of course- surrounded the premises of the high school, and Gabriella found Taylor in the crowd. The best friends embraced and ran about, trying to find their friends to say goodbye. After all, they would most likely never see them again. Through all of this, however, Gabriella was searching for Troy as well. When her eyes finally met his, Gabriella bid farewell to Taylor and hurried to her boyfriend.

"I've been looking for you." She whispered. "We're done."

Troy nodded. "We are. I can't believe it's over already."

"Me either," She shook her head. "It seems like only yesterday you came into this school thinking you were the shit."

"Hey, it's better to be cocky and arrogant than shy and quiet, isn't it?"

Gabriella tilted her head to the side in thought. "Um, no. Not really."

"Okay, fine. You're probably right anyway."

She grinned. "I like being right."

"Uh-huh," He waved it off, encircling an arm around her shoulders. "So what are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing, I don't think. Why?"

"We're going to Logan Klein's party." Troy decided for the both of them. "You know him?"

"Yeah, he's kind of weird." Gabriella said, then her eyes widened. "No! We can't go!"

"Why not?" He asked, alarmed.

Gabriella hid her face in humiliation. "hestheoneibrokeupwithbecausehewastooshort."

Troy just stared at her. "Say that again?"

She sighed. "Logan's the one I broke up with because he was shorter than me."

Troy laughed out loud. "He is? But he's so tall!"

"Yeah, well he wasn't in eighth grade, okay?" She defended. "He must've hit a growth spurt."

Her boyfriend shook his head. "Okay, okay. You wanna go or not?"

"Fine. As long as I don't have to talk to him." Gabriella insisted. "I don't think I could take it."

Troy grinned. "Fine."

* * *

"Gabby! Phone!"

Gabriella ignored the shouts of her sister as she went through her valedictorian speech one more time. It was the morning of June twenty-sixth- graduation day- and Gabriella had to be sure that she knew her speech before standing in front of thousands of people this afternoon. In just a few short hours, she and all of her friends would become high school graduates. It was kind of an apprehensive feeling, but in a way it was completely satisfying.

"Gab, the phone is for you!"

The call was not important. Gabriella shook her head and continued from where she left off. _As we look back on our incredible journey, we have no choice but to smile upon the memories of our lives. The first day of kindergarten, nerves unsettling in our stomachs_-

"Gabriella!!"

-_Graduating fifth grade and moving on to middle school_-

"Come get the phone!"

-_Our first experiences with lockers and school periods_-

"Are you even up there? Are you listening to me?"

-_Hitting high school and learning how to drive, taking the SATs_-

"Gabriella! Stop being annoying!"

The brunette girl sighed and threw open her bedroom door. "God, I'm trying to practice!"

"Well you've got a phone call!"

Groaning, she lifted the receiver and grunted. "Hello?"

"Whoa, did I catch you at a bad time?" Troy teased. "Put away the fangs and claws."

She only rolled her eyes. "Can I help you?"

"Well I was bored and we've only got four hours until we walk across that stage. I just wanted to call you and see if you were okay."

"I'm fine," She lied. "I'm running through my speech for the last time but I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine. You've got that speech down cold, you know that, right?"

"It doesn't hurt to be over-prepared." Gabriella told him. "Besides, what do you mean I don't sound fine? I sound totally... fine."

Troy laughed. "Yeah, that was _so_ convincing."

Sighing, Gabriella sat upon her bed, twisting the tassel on her cap nervously. "I wish you were here."

"I know. I wish I was there too."

"These are the times that I wish you never left." Gabriella admitted. "Because I just want to be able to walk next door and complain to you that I'm probably going to mess up my speech, or I'm going to trip walking across the stage because my gown is really long, or I'm not ready to graduate, or I don't want to leave my family, or... or... well, you get it. I just want you to be here so I can freak out on you. This is when it's not fair. It's times like these that make me miss you being here."

"And it's times like these that you make me feel really guilty for not being there." He said. "You know I want to be there for you and talking on the phone really isn't the same. I wish that we hadn't left either. I thought that our house wouldn't be ready for us until after I left, and I was counting on that. It isn't fair. But then again, I guess this is kind of preparing us for life, in a way. We're not going to be living next door to each other in college, are we?"

"No," Gabriella chuckled. "At least you have a beautiful house to come home to, though."

Troy shrugged. "I don't know. It still doesn't feel like home to me."

"Well that's too bad," Gabriella grinned. "Because if you lived here, you'd be home now."

-The End-


End file.
